Friends and Family
by shelly.hoffer.7
Summary: Part six in the Hotch/Kahlan line. No matter how badly they want it or how hard they try, things just never seem to be able to be easy for the Hotchners and that includes time spent with friends and family.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Rossi hadn't left one piece of rope on Hotch's desk since he'd received the BDSM catalogue, and he was sure that Hotch thought the whole thing was over. Rossi was dying to start up again, though, so he made his way into Hotch's office early one morning to lay out a few things for his selected son. A sly grin spread on his face as he made his way safely back to his office without getting caught. _You're the one who had the catalogue sent, so you're going to be the one who gets to deal with the merchandise._ He sat down at his desk and started in on the couple of consults he had while he waited for his victim to arrive.

Hotch really wasn't paying a lot of attention to anything as he made his way into his office. He took a drink of the coffee he had picked up on the way as he sat his briefcase down on his couch and turned towards his desk. Coffee sprayed all over everything as soon as he saw what was waiting for him. After coughing and choking for a few seconds, he wiped his face off. "God damn it, Rossi!" he screamed not caring if the whole building heard or not.

Dave's laugh was almost as loud as Hotch's scream and the couple innocent people who had arrived in the bullpen quickly left to go do other things not wanting to find out what had the Unit Chief so upset so early. Once Dave finally stopped laughing, he sat at his desk for a few seconds, waiting to see if he could figure out what Hotch was going to do. After a moment or two, he got up and approached Hotch's open office door with caution. He peaked around the corner and pulled his head back just in time as a well-aimed, padded, hospital type restraint cuff shot out of Hotch's door. "You missed!" he teased but stayed hiding behind the wall as he talked through the open door.

"I can't believe you!" Hotch roared and threw another cuff.

Rossi moved to pick both of the cuffs up. "What?" he asked as he finally got brave enough to walk into the office. He choked back another laugh at how red Hotch's face still was. "These won't leave ligature marks like rope. You can use them and no one would know," he tried with a grin as he sat down. "And the D-ring on them allows them to hook to anything, rope, chain. . ."

Hotch shook his head as he still fumed. "You really think I want to be tied up after what I went through?"

Rossi shrugged. "You know what they say about being bucked off a horse, you have to get back on to prove to yourself you still can."

Hotch's eyes went wide as his face turned an even darker shade of red.

"What? You're the one who got me the catalogue. I figured you were too embarrassed to order them and that's why you had it sent to me."

Hotch half growled. "If another thing from that catalogue shows up in my office. . . I swear, Dave. . . I'll. . ."

Rossi held up his hands. "Ok!" he agreed with a grin.

"I mean it, Dave!"

"Alright, Aaron. I won't order anything else and bring it to your office."

Hotch eyed him warily and shook his head. "Get these out of here," he demanded as he threw the last two cuffs that were still on his desk at the man.

"You don't want to put them in your bag, maybe you should take them home. . ."

"David Michael!"

"Alright, alright," Rossi told him as he laughed and left to go back to his office. _Just because I can't bring them here doesn't mean I can't have them sent to his house. . ._

XXX

After a case briefing, the team was headed out to Leadville, Colorado, a small town south-west of Denver to help catch a serial killer who was targeting tourists in the Rocky Mountains. Four bodies had been found so far, two men, a woman, and a teenaged girl; and they were all sexually assaulted and tortured before being dumped like trash along four different hiking trails. Hotch knew the case wasn't going to be easy with such a diverse victim pool because that meant either multiple offenders or one omnivore. He sighed heavily as he looked over the photos on his tablet. He also knew the remoteness of the area and the vast mountain forest was going to make catching whatever unsub even more difficult. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he thought back to another case in the mountains. They never caught Shane Wyland and they had never heard anything about him since, but he knew he was still out there; still trolling the Appalachian Trail for young boys. He shook his head and tried to focus on the current case.

It was the ones who got away that haunted him in quiet moments. He knew they couldn't catch every bad guy, and he knew that they had caught more than any other team, but the ones who were still out there; still able to hurt someone else, those were the ones that bothered him the most. _We'll catch this son of a bitch!_

XXX

After six days and nine more bodies, two of which had been obviously killed since they had arrived, and Hotch started to think that maybe they wouldn't catch this unsub either. Morgan had suggested a break from the case and talked the team into going to the local bar for a drink and a chance to relax and recharge. Hotch sat up at the bar by himself nursing a beer as most of the team was unwinding by playing pool, playing darts, or dancing. The case wouldn't let his mind rest and his focus was inward and not on the bar around him. He felt someone sit down beside him, but his eyes didn't leave the bottle of beer in his hand, and he sighed heavily as the thought of another brutal unsub escaping justice made the acid in his stomach churn.

When a slow song started the person who had sat down next to him elbowed his arm. "Care to dance?"

Hotch glanced at the new comer from the corner of his eyes. "I don't think my wife would appreciate that," he told her without looking at her.

She shrugged. "She'd never know."

He huffed.

"What's a little innocent dance?" she tried as she nudged him again.

He took a drink of his beer and finally looked at her. "Maybe she wouldn't mind, especially since it's just a dance," he told her with a grin that revealed his dimples.

She smiled. "Maybe if you're a good enough dancer, I'll take you to my hotel later," she told him as she flicked her brows.

He took a deep breath and pulled her to him. "I'm the best dancer you'll ever meet," he boasted and pulled her to the floor.

She laughed. "Let me be the judge of that." After he pulled her close and they started swaying to the music, she giggled. "You're alright, I guess."

He chuckled and pulled her even closer as he nuzzled the hair away from her ear. "I can do other things even better."

His seductive tone heated her cheeks. "Oh yeah?"

He ghosted his lips over the edge of her ear making her earrings jingle. "I can do things that would make that blush on your cheeks match the pounding in your heart."

The breath hitched in her chest as his lips feathered down her neck. "God, Aaron."

He chuckled lightly in her ear. "I'm glad you came. I needed a break."

"I could tell by your tone last night on the phone that you were letting it get to you too much," Kahlan told him with a small smile.

He took a deep breath and squeezed her to his chest. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too, Hun," she mumbled into his chest because he was still holding her too tightly for her to pull back. After several more moments, she looked up at him. "Aaron?"

He took another deep breath and finally looked down at her. "This case is really starting to suck."

She gave him a squeeze. "You're trying too hard. Let it go for a night and you'll figure it out." His look told her he didn't agree. "You'll solve it!" she insisted.

He sighed and pulled her back to him. "I sure hope so," he muttered.

She shook her head at him as she pulled back from him. "Aaron. . ." she stopped as the song ended and pulled him from the dance floor. "Come on. You need to loosen up and relax. Your brain is wound too tight to think straight."

His brows furrowed but he let her lead him.

She stopped at the bar and bought a bottle of tequila. His raised brows made her laugh. "What? This will get you relaxed faster than scotch."

He huffed. "I'm on a case. I can't afford to get drunk tonight."

"I said relaxed, not drunk. Trust me," she told him with a sly grin as she paid for the liquor and started pulling him toward the door. She gave Rossi a slight nod before she slipped out the door; his smile thanked her for coming and taking care of their Unit Chief.

The team's hotel was only a couple blocks down the street so the Hotchners walked hand in hand as she told him all about what he had missed at home. "And Wyatt hit another home run in tonight's game."

He chuckled. "That's twelve now, isn't it?"

She nodded. "Yep, and Jack only let three players hit off of him in the five innings he pitched."

He smiled. "I would have liked to have seen it."

"I taped it," she assured him.

"I know, but it's not the same as seeing it live," he mumbled.

She sighed mentally. "Maybe you'll be done with the case by Friday's game."

He shrugged. "Maybe."

He led her to his door and opened it for her. She went in, grabbed two cups off the sink and poured them both a drink. She handed him his. "Get stripped."

He chuckled. "Is that an order?"

"You know it," she joked as she sat down on the bed. He down his drink and the grimace it left him with made her laugh. "It's not that bad." He huffed as he put his cup down and started to pull off his shirt. She smiled as she flicked her brows. "Need some help with that?"

He wiggled his brows and threw the shirt at her. "Sorry I don't have any buttons for you to rip off." He had been wearing more casual clothes with trekking through the forest because of the case.

She got in behind him and reached around and undid his belt. "You had to go back a hole. Aaron! You haven't been eating, have you?"

He stepped away from her. "I've been eating just fine," he tried as he quickly took his pants off and threw them on the chair. _She would know which hole I normally use._

She shook her head at him as she filled his cup all the way up. "Drink this then lay down on your stomach."

He took a step to her instead and pulled her to his chest. "Maybe I want to relax another way."

She giggled and pushed him back. "Get on the damn bed. You're too tense to enjoy anything right now."

He down the drink and did as he was told. She straddled his legs and started massaging his lower back as soft moans started to escape him. "You better watch it. You're going to put me to sleep."

She giggled. "You haven't been sleeping well either, so that would be alright." His questioning look at her as he craned his neck back to look at her made her giggle again. "The circles under your eyes are a dead giveaway, Hun."

He took a deep breath and settled back down into the pillow.

By the time she was done with her massage, she had gotten him to drink a couple more cups and he was out before they took it any further. She giggled softly as she stroked his hair back from his forehead. The look of peace on his face made her heart swell as big as her grin. She got up and changed into one of his t-shirts and snuggled up against him, threw the covers over them, and then turned out the light. "Goodnight, Hun. I love you," she whispered and then kissed his chest.

XXX

Hotch stretched as he woke up and smiled when he saw Kahlan sitting at the little table reading over his case files. He got up and went up behind her and leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you. I slept like a baby last night."

She smiled as she turned towards him. "Good. That's why I came."

He gave her a quick peck on the lips and then went to the restroom. He emerged wearing his sweats and chuckled at her wearing his shirt. "I was wondering why I couldn't find it." Her legs were drawn up on the chair and his shirt covered her up completely.

"What? My bag is still in the car at the bar," she told him as she flipped through the file.

"Sorry. I didn't think about that last night."

"It's fine. I like the way this one smells," she told him with a grin.

He shook his head at her. "Are you staying long enough to have breakfast with us?"

She sat the file down. "Actually. . ." she started and then stopped at a knock on the door.

Hotch got up and looked through the peep hole and smiled as he opened the door. "Morning, Dave."

Rossi walked in with a cup carrier holding three large coffees. "Morning. Looks like you actually slept."

Hotch nodded as he shut the door and then motioned for Rossi to take the only other chair available. Rossi sat the coffees down on the table and leaned and gave Kahlan a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for coming, Kiddo."

She smiled and took the offered coffee. "Had too. I missed your handsome face," she joked.

Hotch took his coffee and sat down on the bed as he shook his head at them. "So are you staying for breakfast?"

She sat her coffee down after taking a drink and then fixed him with a serious look. "I've been reading your case files, and I think I know what you all need to catch a break."

Rossi and Hotch both sat up a little straighter. "Oh yeah?" Rossi asked with raised brows.

"You need bait, someone who can take care of herself, someone who can actually do something against this asshole."

Hotch immediately shook his head because he knew who she was suggesting be the bait. "No!"

Rossi appraised her for a moment and then looked at Hotch. "She just might have something there."

"Dave! You know what this bastard does to these people!"

"And I can. . ." Kahlan started.

"And she can take care of herself," Rossi put in.

Hotch stood up. "No!"

"We don't have any other leads," Rossi tried.

"That's because he's too good. We'll find another lead," Hotch insisted.

"But I could. . ." Kahlan started again.

"No!" Hotch yelled.

"Aaron! You cannot possibly think this man could best me," she asked with raised brows.

He went to open his mouth and then shut it as he shook his head. "Anything can happen. It's too dangerous!" He looked at Rossi. "It's too dangerous!"

Rossi held up his hands. "Alright! I'm sure we'll find another lead."

Hotch finally took a deep breath and got up and put his hands on Kahlan's shoulders. "Thank you for offering, but we can handle this. The break last night just might let us see something we missed." She looked at him dubiously. "We'll figure it out," he assured her and then went to his bag to get his clothes.

She smiled. "I'm sure you will."

Rossi caught the tone of her voice and shot her a look. She gave him a slight shrug with a sly grin that disappeared quickly when Hotch turned back towards them. Rossi cleared his throat and stood up. "Well, I'm going to make sure the rest of the team is up."

"I'll get dressed and go get your bag," Hotch told his wife as he made his way to the bathroom.

Rossi shared another look with Kahlan before he went out the door. She winked at him and he shook his head.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Kahlan joined the team for breakfast and made sure Hotch ate the whole meal she had ordered for him. He shot her a look when she ordered the massive meal, but he didn't argue after being caught having to move his belt back a hole. The rest of the team shared little grins as they watched their Unit Chief struggle to get down the entire meal.

The break the night before had renewed them all and talked turned to the case. Kahlan listened to every detail intently. _Just because he said I couldn't doesn't mean someone else can't. _ She shook her head when Reid went over the latest victim's injuries. "This son of a bitch needs to be shot."

Hotch shook his head. "No. That would be too easy for him. He needs to spend the rest of his life paying for what he's done in a maximum security prison."

She thought about it for a second and then nodded. "That's true."

After breakfast, Hotch pulled her to the side. "Text me when you get home."

She licked her lips. "I was thinking about staying for a while."

His eyes hardened. "Kahlan, you are not setting yourself up as bait for this. . ."

She shook her head. "No! I wouldn't do that to you, Aaron."

He appraised her as he relaxed a little and then sighed. "Who?"

She smiled. "Chuck and Michaela should be here in about two hours," she told him as she looked at her watch.

He pulled her into the corner. "Morgan brought up that the unsub might be connected to the case and that's why we haven't been able to catch him. We're not going to be able to let on that we have someone in under cover." He knew Chuck's abilities and while he had only met Michaela once, he knew she had to be decent, too, to be one of Kahlan's people.

She nodded. "Fine. Cam and I can keep an eye on them. We'll let you know if anything happens and then you all can sweep in and do your thing."

He took a deep breath. "You'll stay back and only observe?"

She gave him a little grin. "Yes, Aaron."

He ran a hand across the back of his neck. "Don't underestimate this bastard, Kahlan. He has killed thirteen people that we know of. You saw the photos. You know how brutal he is."

She put a hand on his chest. "We've hunted worse. You figure out where you want them to be inserted and let me know. I'll be hanging out in your room waiting for them to get here."

He licked his lips as he studied her eyes.

"Aaron, my job is to help out teams who need it. Your team needs some help with this case. Let us do this."

He took a deep breath.

"That's what Jim pays us to do. Let us do our job."

He inhaled deeply through his nose and finally nodded. "You're right."

She smiled. "Of course I am."

He huffed as he shook his head. "We'll go do our thing, and I'll let you know the best location."

She nodded. "And when Cam gets here, he'll set you up through Pen so you know exactly what we're doing."

He nodded and then gave her a quick kiss. "Alright. I'll talk to you later. Please be careful."

She gave him a squeeze. "Don't worry about me. I'll be safely on the sidelines running the whole thing."

He finally smiled. "Good."

She shoved him away. "Get to work."

He chuckled and started for the door.

Once he was out of it, she took out her phone and texted him.

He frowned at his phone as it vibrated. He took it out and shook his head at her 'Be safe!' He put his phone away as he climbed in the SUV with Rossi and Mack. He looked at Rossi in the passenger seat. "She's calling in reinforcements."

Rossi smiled. "Good."

XXX

Once Hotch had his team in the conference room, he told them what Kahlan was doing and then told them not to let anyone else in on it and then they went about their case as if nothing new had happened. Within an hour, they had a new body. As Hotch drove to the site, he silently prayed that Kahlan's plan worked before anyone else could get killed.

Their newest victim was another man. As Hotch looked over the scene, his stomach turned and he had to fight the urge to throw up as he silently cussed Kahlan for making him eat such a big breakfast. He swallowed back the excess saliva in his mouth and cleared his throat. They didn't need to ME to tell them the cause of death. The poor man had been sodomized/impaled with a three inch round branch that had been ripped from one of the local trees and left inside him. Hotch fought back a shudder and silently prayed that Chuck and Michaela were careful.

"These ligature marks and other wounds suggest he was only held for about a day," the ME pointed out.

"He's escalating," Rossi injected with a snort of disgust.

"Maybe that means we're getting close," Mack put in with hope in her voice.

Hotch shook his head and then searched the trees around them. "He could be anywhere in this damn forest."

Rossi put his hand on his shoulder. "We'll find him."

XXX

Before Hotch got back to the station, Kahlan text him to stop by the hotel when he had a chance, so he dropped Rossi and Mack off at the station and went and checked on his wife. He opened the door and was surprised to find it empty. He half growled as he started to turn around. _Damn it, Kahlan!_ He turned to go back out the door and ran right into his wife.

She smiled. "Come to the truck."

"Oh, alright."

She eyed him for a second and then shook her head.

"What?" he asked as he tried to cover with a little grin.

"You thought I had left to get more involved than I had said."

He swallowed as he ducked his head. "Maybe."

She eyed him. "Right here, right now," she started as she fixed him with a serious look. "I will not personally do anything without discussing it with you first, from now on until the day I die. I promise."

He studied her; that was the strongest promise she had ever given him.

She grabbed his hand. "I have put you through too much already. You deserve better, and I want you to trust me."

He took a deep breath. "I do trust you. It's just. . . well, sometimes you forget that we're in this together."

She nodded. "I know, and I am trying to get better at that."

He gave her a smile. "I know," he told her as he pulled her into a hug.

After a moment, she pulled away and pulled him down the hall. "Come on. You can see what we have set up."

He chuckled and let her lead him. When she took him out into the parking lot and up to a semi-truck, he gave her a strange look. She giggled and went to the back door, pulled it open, and stairs like the jet had fell into place. The shocked look on his face made her giggle again. He shook his head as he followed her into the nondescript trailer and he found himself in a high-tech room sort of like the Bureau's Mobile Truck they had used a time or two. "Where did this come from?" he asked her as he looked around.

Cam gave him a nod and continued working on the keyboard in front of him. There was also another young man that Hotch had never seen before.

Kahlan smiled. "It was in Denver."

"And who does it belong to?" Hotch asked her with raised brows.

She shrugged. "Jim."

He nodded knowing that that meant it could belong to any of the agencies under Director Clapper's control. He guessed it didn't really matter, though. "Alright, so how are you going to keep me in the loop?"

Cam smiled and pushed his way away from his computer bank and stood up. He handed Hotch a tablet. "With this."

Hotch took the tablet and knew that it wasn't his normal one even though it looked just like it. He turned it on and then grinned at what was on the screen. "Nice."

Cam chuckled. "Our communications will come across like text messages and you can switch back and forth between these four screens to see the four different plants."

Hotch looked at Kahlan. "Four?"

She smiled. "I brought in a few more people to cover the area. I figured with such a wide hunting ground, we'd have better luck with more targets."

He nodded. "Good thinking. Another one was found this morning."

"I know, and don't worry about the agents. They are all highly trained and know what they are up against."

He took a deep breath.

"Alright, try not to worry too much."

He chuckled. "I'll try."

"And we'll let you know as soon as we have a hit," Cam assured him.

Hotch fixed his wife with a serious look. "He is to be apprehended, correct?"

She giggled. "Yes, Aaron. They have orders not to use lethal force. Whenever we go in to help, we're obligated to follow the rules and regulations of the team we're helping."

Hotch switched through the screens and looked at Kahlan for clarity. She moved closer to him and smiled. "This first one is Chuck and Michaela; a nice couple on a hiking trip." She moved to the next one that showed three people. "This is our fake family with a teenaged daughter," she started and when he opened his mouth she gave him a look. "She's not actually that young, Aaron. She just looks it."

"Oh, ok," he relaxed.

"They are on a camping trip," she continued and then switched to the next screen that showed only one person. "Here is Trey; you've never met him, but he's good on his own." She moved to the next screen as he nodded and it showed two people. "And Joyce and Tammy, who are also on a hiking trip. That gives your unsub a variety to choose from."

He nodded and then looked at Cam. "And you'll have satellite coverage on all of them the whole time?"

Cam nodded. "Either live or thermal for the next two days for sure."

Hotch's eyes darted around as he considered it all. "That's good work."

Kahlan beamed. "I just hope it draws him out."

"We got a hit," the man in the back called out. "Number two," he told them and Kahlan moved Hotch's screen to show the family. Cam moved back to his computer and they all watched as two people approached the camping family.

"Oh, it's just a couple Forest Rangers," Cam put in as soon as he zoomed in with his satellites and cleared the picture up.

They all visibly relaxed and Hotch tucked his tablet under his arm. "Well, I better get back before they wonder what happened to me."

Kahlan nodded and leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Let us know if you want us to do anything different."

He nodded. "Just keep your people safe."

"Of course," she told him with a grin and he left.

XXX

About three hours later, Hotch's new tablet started emitting strange beeps. The couple of local cops and Mack and Morgan gave him a strange looks as he grabbed it and turned the screen on. He stood up immediately. Rossi, who was across the room going over the map with Reid, noticed and went to him. "What?" he asked Hotch as he looked at the tablet.

The screen showed thermal imaging of four people and the text running rapidly across the screen had Hotch moving away from the table. "Let's go!" he told everyone and they all scrambled out of the building and into the SUVs. Rossi drove so Hotch could keep an eye on the tablet. His phone was also in his hand and he silently cussed when Kahlan's phone went to voicemail. He half growled as he took his phone away from his ear but before he could put it back into his pocket, it vibrated with her return call. "I see it," he told her as soon as the call connected.

"We'll meet you at the check point," she told him quickly and he could tell by the background sounds that she was already on the move.

"Wait for us," he insisted.

"Of course. You have the lead," she assured him and ended the call.

The GPS in the SUV lit up and showed them the rendezvous point. Rossi smiled and hit the gas. "I'd like it when they're around."

Hotch took a deep breath and shook his head.

Mack, who was in the back, giggled. "Shit just happens. I still haven't gotten used to that with Sam, and he isn't really part of them anymore."

Rossi looked at her in the rearview mirror. "He'll always be part of them."

Mack nodded as she considered it and then smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Rossi pulled the SUV up beside another black SUV and he figured that's what Kahlan had been in. They all jumped out and joined her and Cam. Hotch looked at them. "What do we know?"

Kahlan shook her head in disgust. "Comm's silent but sats says one of them is still at the appointed spot."

Hotch's brows furrowed. "Just one?"

She nodded and Hotch could tell she was quite as calm as she was trying to portray.

"Alive?" Hotch asked reluctantly.

"Thermal doesn't show whoever it is getting any colder, so I would think so," Cam told him.

Hotch took a deep breath and pulled his pistol. "Let's go."

Kahlan pulled a pistol out from her shoulder holster and motioned for Hotch to take the lead. He nodded and they all set out into the woods.

Once they got over the rise closest to where her people were, Kahlan took off. Hotch tried to grab her, but missed. He couldn't blame her, though, because Chuck was lying awkwardly on the ground and wasn't moving. Hotch sped up and got to him at the same time. Kahlan's breath hitched in her chest as she took in the bullet holes in Chuck's shirt. "God damn it!" she screamed as she ripped his shirt open as Hotch felt for a pulse. The unsub hadn't used a gun before that. They both relaxed when they saw he had a vest on under his shirt that had protected him. He suddenly took a breath and came up fighting.

Hotch grabbed his arms and tried to hold him down. "Jesus, Chuck! It's us!"

Chuck's frantic eyes took in who had him and calmed down. He shook his head and looked around. "Michaela?"

Kahlan shook her head. "What happened?"

"That son of a bitch shot me!" Chuck told them as Hotch helped him into a standing position. "Before I even had a chance to say anything, he just shot me!"

"Who?" Hotch demanded.

"A damn Forest Ranger! There were two of them! I thought they were just on patrol. They approached us and. . . He shot me!" Chuck exclaimed as he seethed with anger. "I'm going to kill him!" he told them and tried to move out from the middle of them.

Kahlan stopped him with a hand to his chest. "Stand down."

His look told her exactly how much he didn't want to stand down, but he took a deep breath and put his hands in his pockets as he pouted.

She looked at Cam. "You have her, right?"

Cam nodded as he messed with the tablet in his hands. "She's that way," he told them and pointed further up the trail.

Kahlan looked at Hotch. He nodded. "Let's go."

After several hundred yards, all of their steps turned cautious as they neared the signal on Cam's tablet. As soon as they could see with their own eyes, Kahlan let out a chuckle. "I love her," she uttered as she and Hotch sped up.

Michaela was sitting on a downed tree and a man was hogged tied and gagged on the ground beside her. She quickly stood up and greeted them with a small smile. "This bastard is the one who shot Chuck."

Hotch looked around. "He said there were two of them."

She nodded and pointed to a cave entrance almost completely hidden behind her. "I wasn't about to go in there after him alone. I was taught better than that," she told him with a look to Kahlan.

Kahlan smiled. "That's my girl."

Michaela beamed for a second and then got serious. "I also heard a couple screams. I think he has someone in there."

Hotch took a deep breath. "Does he know what you've done?"

She shook her head. "No. He left him out here to have his fun with me, but he never got the chance."

Chuck kicked the restrained man. "Asshole!"

"Charles!" Kahlan smacked him on the arm.

"What? That wasn't lethal!" Chuck insisted.

Hotch shook his head and then looked at the cave and then looked at Kahlan and her people. "Any tricks up your sleeve for finding him in there?"

Cam shrugged off the backpack he had on. "I've got two infrared cameras and four night vision, that should help," he told him as he started digging.

Hotch nodded and looked at the people around him. "Me, Kahlan, and Mack in one team; and Chuck, Michaela, Morgan and JJ in the other in case we have to split up. The rest of you stay out here, keep an eye on him, and be ready for whoever might come out."

"I'll get the locals and a couple buses in case they're needed," Rossi told him.

They all nodded and Cam started passing out the equipment.

Hotch took what was offered and gave him a look. "These are night vision?" They looked like regular sunglasses to him.

Kahlan laughed. "Just wait," she told him and hung a matching one on the neck of her shirt.

He shook his head and hung them on the neck of his shirt, too. Once everyone was ready, he nodded and they entered the small opening, and Kahlan acted like she was going to get sick as her hand flew to cover her mouth and nose. They all knew the smell wafting out of the passages was from rotting flesh. She swallowed hard. "Sorry," she offered.

Hotch shook his head mentally as he took in the huge cave that had three different passages going off of it. "Chuck and JJ can hit the right, we'll take the middle, and Morgan and Michaela can have the left. Mack can stay here and keep an eye on the entrance," he whispered to them. They all nodded and set off to their appointed spots as they donned their gear.

He bit back a chuckle as the 'sunglasses' made the dark cave look like it was lit up like a sunny afternoon. "Told you," Kahlan whispered as she got close to his ear. He shook his head and started down the passageway with his pistol held ready.

When they made their way around a bend in the passageway, her breath hitched in her chest. There were two dead bodies thrown to one side. "Jesus Christ!" she exclaimed quietly. They both instantly knew it was two of the missing people from Garcia's list. The damage to the bodies also told them they had died horrible deaths. _It's a good thing you stressed that he had to be apprehended, Hun, cause if not I'd kill that son of a bitch on sight!_

Hotch gave her a look that told her he knew what she was thinking and then headed down the passageway again. After a few steps, they both ducked instinctively as two shots rang out. He shot her a look and she keyed the comm link in her ear. All she got was static, though, and she shook her head. "The cave is disrupting the signal," she whispered and he nodded and started down the passage again.

He got around another bend and then sprinted forward. She sped up to keep up with him and then they both kneelt down next to a young man who was struggling to get out of restraints. There was a small lantern lit next to him and he almost yelled when he saw them, but Kahlan put her finger to her lips. "Shhh. We're here to help," she assured him quietly as she took out a knife and started through the ropes that had the man's hands behind him. He took in Hotch's FBI vest and relaxed a little.

Hotch pulled the gag out of the man's mouth and the man looked down the passage further. "He went that way. He's got a gun and there's two more of them somewhere, too," he told them and they could both hear the fear in his voice.

Hotch nodded. "Can you walk?" he asked him. He could tell he had been beat, but he didn't think he was hurt too severely.

"Yeah. He's also got Jenny, my girlfriend," he told them quickly.

Hotch and Kahlan turned as one with pointed weapons as someone came around the corner behind them. "It's us!" Morgan called out as soon as he saw them. They both lowered their pistols and relaxed slightly. "We hit a dead end and tossed a coin as to who to follow," he explained as he squatted down next to them.

Hotch looked to the young man and then back to Morgan and Michaela. "Get him out of here."

A scream further down into the darkened recesses of the cave put them all on edge. "Come on," Hotch told Kahlan as Morgan helped the young man to his feet and started him down the passage toward the entrance.

Kahlan took a deep breath and got close to her husband. Knowing Morgan and Michaela were behind them made her feel a little easier, but she didn't like the fact of there being two more unsubs to deal with. She licked her lips and gripped her pistol a little tighter.

Hotch glanced at his wife and silently cussed her for not having a vest on. He could tell she didn't have one underneath her tight fitting shirt, too. _She wasn't supposed to be in the field and yet here she is. I should have made her stay out there with Dave. _He shook his head and tried to keep his focus on the passage ahead of him.

He slowed as he came up to the opening of a larger part that would be considered a room. He pulled the glasses off because the room was lit up with lanterns, and he grimaced when he saw a woman tied to a table. He could tell she was breathing, though, and he silently thanked God. One of their unsubs was standing next to her and his back was to them, but Hotch could see a knife in the man's hand. Kahlan put her hand on Hotch's shoulder and held up her knife. 'Let me,' she mouthed. He shook his head to let her know that he did not want the man dead. She shook her head and motioned with the butt of the knife. He nodded his understanding and moved over slightly to allow her better access. She smiled as she lined up her shot and let loose. The man crumpled to the ground and the woman's eyes went wide in shock. They quickly went up to her. Kahlan picked her knife up and started cutting the woman free.

"Thank you!" she whispered as she looked towards the other side of the room. "There's more. He heard gun shots and took off down that right corridor," she told them as Hotch grabbed a blanket off the floor and wrapped it around her as she sat up. She was naked and badly beaten.

"If he took off when he heard shots, who did Chuck and them run into?" Kahlan asked Hotch. They could have shot at someone or someone could have shot at them, and Kahlan silently prayed that her friends were safe.

He quirked his mouth but the woman spoke up again. "There are five of them."

Hotch and Kahlan shared a look.

"And one of them is a cop," the woman added as she started to cry.

Kahlan pulled her to her and hugged her. "It's ok. We're going to get you out of here."

Hotch bent down and cuffed the man Kahlan had knocked out. He swallowed hard as he looked at the three passages that lead off the other side of the room. He glanced at the woman. He didn't want to leave her alone and he didn't want Kahlan following him, but he also knew Kahlan wouldn't let him go on without her.

Before he could make a decision as to what to do next, a man with a gun came into the room, saw what was happening, and opened fire. Hotch turned with his pistol and took him out with one shot. He scrambled over to the man and kicked the pistol away from him and then bent down and checked for a pulse, but the man was dead. _That's three._

"Hey. . . Hey lady. . ." the woman cried out.

Hotch turned and his heart jumped into his throat as he saw that the woman was struggling to get out from underneath of Kahlan. _No! _He ran over to them and the three bullet holes in the back of Kahlan's shirt said she had used herself to shield the woman. "Kahlan!" he screamed as he laid her down on the ground with gentle hands and quickly felt for a pulse. "Come on, Babe!"

She suddenly coughed as she fought to get air back into her lungs. Hotch almost collapsed with relief. "Don't move," he told her as he grabbed her hand.

After a few deep breaths she shook her head and tried to sit up. "I'm alright. It just knocked the air out of me."

His brows furrowed and she smiled as she pulled up her shirt to reveal the material she had named 'dragon skin'. "You're not the only one with one now."

He let out a chuckle of relief. "I love you," he told her as he pulled her to his chest. She moaned. "Sorry," he told her as he let her go.

She swallowed. "It's alright. I think it hit my shoulder blade."

He ran a hand down his face and then shook his head at her. "I knew you didn't have a vest on."

She smirked. "I know better than that, Aaron."

He stood up and pulled her up. "Thank God."

She giggled as she dusted herself off. She looked at the dead man and then shot her husband a look. "What happened to apprehending them?"

He stood up straighter and squared his shoulders. "He shot my wife!"

They both froze when they heard a whistle come from one of the passages. She smiled at Hotch. "That's. . ."

"Chuck," he finished for her. "Yeah. The whippoorwill made it obvious."

Her brows furrowed as she tried to figure out how he knew about their secret signal, but she smiled when she saw her best friend come into the room dragging another unsub.

Chuck pushed the man to the ground with disgust. "No fair! I wasn't allowed to kill any," he whined as he took in the dead man.

Hotch shook his head. "JJ, help this woman to the entrance. Chuck, you take your guy and keep your eyes open. There's still one more."

Chuck suddenly tensed and looked behind him. "Really?

The woman clutching the blanket around her nodded. "I've seen five of them."

JJ went to her and helped her up. "Come on. We have help waiting outside."

The woman nodded. "They had two little kids. A boy and a girl. Have you found them?"

Hotch shared a look with Kahlan. Kahlan shook her head. "Not yet, but we will."

"These tunnels go on forever. They've had me down several of them, but I couldn't tell you where for sure," the woman told them.

Hotch looked at Chuck. "As soon as you get him out, get some of the others and get back in here. God knows how many people they have down here."

Chuck nodded. "Right. Be careful!" he insisted and then threw the flir camera to Kahlan and then threw the man over his shoulder and motioned for JJ to go first.

Hotch took a deep breath, and Kahlan used the camera to look down the passages. "I'm not sure how far it would pick up any heat signatures in these caves."

"It's alright. We have to search until we find them anyway."

She nodded and then looked back the way they came. "Well, that passage heads back to the entrance," she started as she pointed to the passage Chuck and JJ had just come out of. "So I suggest we hit this one," she told him as she pointed at the passage furthest to the left.

He nodded and stepped in front of her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Hotch and Kahlan silently made their way down the passage in the cave. They had one more unsub and two children to find, and those were the ones they knew about. Hotch silently seethed. They had yet to find the cop the woman had said was in on it. It made sense to him, though, because that would explain why they had had so much trouble with the case. He shook his head.

"Hun?" Kahlan asked as she put a hand on his back.

"He's a cop."

She took a deep breath and could understand his anger. "You all thought it was someone connected to the case."

"But we had no idea it was five guys."

She could tell he was getting mad at himself. "All of the DNA belonged to one man, Aaron. That's not your all's fault."

He huffed but then he froze when he heard crying, crying that was made up of soft, little whimpers like from a child. His heart clenched as he sped up slightly.

When they got close to another chamber, Kahlan pulled him to a stop and used the camera to look around the corner. The screen showed two heat images sitting on the far left. "Looks like the kids," she whispered.

He nodded as she panned the camera around to see if it picked up anything else. _Where is he?_ He took a chance and glanced around the corner. "I think I can see a light coming from a corridor on the other side."

Kahlan looked at him and knew immediately that he wanted her to stay with the kids and him to go on alone. "Aaron!"

"You can protect the kids," he insisted.

"We can get them out and then come back in," she countered.

A scream filled the air and set her teeth on edge, and she knew her argument was as dead as the two bodies they had found earlier. He raised his brows to see if she had anything else to say. Her eyes hardened. "Why do you have to be so damn stubborn?!"

He grinned. "Cause I was made for you."

She huffed. "I swear, Aaron. If. . ."

"I'll be fine!" he insisted and started into the room.

They could tell the children couldn't see them in the dark, so Kahlan approached them slowly to try not to scare them too much. "Hey there," she tried in her most motherly tone and they both startled and grabbed onto each other. She watched Hotch disappear down the passageway and then took out a flash light. She shined it on herself. "I'm here to help," she tried as she squatted down. They kids eyes went wide and they both jumped up. Her heart sank when she saw them tied to hook that had been pounded into the rock wall. They were both dirty, but they looked basically alright. "My name's Kay," she told them with a smile as she got closer to them. "What's yours?"

The little boy licked his lips and looked at the girl. He smiled. "Travis and this is my sister, Agatha."

Kahlan took out her knife and cut the ropes holding the kids back and then held out her arms to invite the kids to her. The boy moved instantly, but the little girl hesitated for just a second and then quickly followed her brother. "I'm going to get you out of here," she assured them softly as she squeezed them.

Once she let up they pulled back and she took one more look to where her husband disappeared and then took a deep breath and looked back to the kids. "Can you walk?" she asked Travis who she thought was a couple years older than Agatha. He nodded, so she picked Agatha up in her arms and started back the way they had come. "Come on. I have friends waiting outside," she told them. A gunshot rang out and made Travis slam himself into her legs as Agatha whimpered. Kahlan squatted down and put her arm around Travis. "It's ok," she tried. _God, please let it be ok!_

Once they calmed down a little she started them forward again going a little faster. She wanted to get them to safety and go find her husband as fast as possible. She was a little worried about using the flashlight to light their way but she knew she had to so the kids could see, and she prayed that the last unsub was behind her.

After several minutes, a whistle made her relax even more. Chuck came around the next corner quickly followed by Morgan, Michaela, JJ, and Mack. Kahlan handed Agatha off to JJ as Mack picked up Travis. She gave them a smile. "This is JJ and Mack and they're going to take you out." Travis nodded, and Kahlan squeezed his hand. "I have to go back in a help my friend."

He nodded again and the girls took them back the way they had come with Morgan going with to keep guard.

"Cam and the rest of them are searching the other passages. So far three others have been rescued," Chuck told her.

Kahlan nodded and then turned her flashlight off and put her glasses back on as she headed back towards Hotch. "We heard a scream, and then after we split up I heard a shot."

Chuck got in beside her and put his hand on her back. "He'll be fine," he tried with a smile.

"He better be or they'll be hell to pay," she told him as she sped up a little more. Chuck shared a look with Michaela and she shrugged.

Another gunshot spurred Kahlan into a run and Chuck jumped to try and catch up with her. "Kay!" As soon as he made it around the next turn, he ran into her back before he could bring himself to a stop.

She almost tumbled over from it. "Damn it, Chuck!"

He straightened her as he ducked his head. "Sorry."

She shook her head as she stared at the fork in the passage ahead of her. Chuck and Michaela silently waited for her to decide what to do. Kahlan took a deep breath as she eyed both passages and then shined her flashlight onto the ground. Nothing indicated which way Hotch had gone, and she looked at the passages again.

"Split up?" Michaela asked.

Kahlan inhaled through her nose and then pointed to the left. "You two head that way."

Chuck clenched his teeth. He didn't like the idea of Kahlan going alone, but he also knew Kahlan was not going to let Michaela go alone because she wasn't seasoned enough yet. He looked at his best friend. "Ten minutes. If we haven't found him, we meet back here."

She eyed him for a second and then nodded. She gave him a grin. "And don't shoot my husband on accident!" she joked to try and lessen the stress she could see building in his eyes.

"I wouldn't dream of it. I know what you would do to me," he told her and then laughed as he headed down the passage with Michaela on his heels.

Kahlan took a deep breath and started forward. She was starting to get an uneasy feeling and she didn't like it one bit. She cracked her neck. _If you have hurt him, I will kill you. No one will be able to protect you!_ She moved her pistol to her left hand and pulled her knife back out with her right as she made her way further into the cave. The steady downward slope of the passage told her she was getting pretty deep into the ground and she imagined a natural spring running through there at one point in the past. She also started to feel humidity and wondered if there was still water in the cave somewhere.

Her heart skipped a beat as she saw a foot jutting out around the next corner. It was big enough to be one of Hotch's and with the way the glasses bathed everything in a shade of light green, she couldn't tell if it was her husband's or not. She held her breath as she approached it. She stole a glance around the corner and her breath left her in a rush of relief because it wasn't Hotch. She kneelt down next to man and felt for a pulse. He moaned and she flipped him over. He was wearing a deputy's uniform and she half growled and then flipped him back over and then took a zip tie out of her pocket and restrained the man's hands behind his back. She smiled to herself as she saw blood in the man's hair and knew that Hotch had hit him. As she stood up, she kicked him. "That's for making me think my husband was the one who was lying here!"

She took a deep breath to calm herself back down and then started down the passage again. A shot, one that seemed very close, made her freeze. _Now who's shooting at whom? _She shook her head and took off at a run.

As she came into the next large opening, her heart sank. Hotch was falling and man with a gun in his hand was standing just inside another passage on the far side. "No!" she screamed as she aimed and the man went down with a bullet between his eyes as she still headed for her husband. The slope of the floor tilted downward drastically and moss and moisture that covered the rock made her slip and slide and she ended up falling into and over Hotch as he tried to catch her. They both ended up tangled up in a heap. "Aaron!" she exclaimed as she realized he wasn't dead.

"Jesus, babe!" he exclaimed just as loudly as he tried to right himself.

She pushed him over and started running her hands all over him.

"I'm fine! I slipped, that's all," he tried knowing she was checking him for wounds.

She finally took a breath and relaxed a little. He gave her a grin. "Nice shot."

She smacked him in the gut right below his vest and the air gushed out of him. She crossed her arms. "That's for making me think you were hurt!"

Once he could breathe again, he shook his head. "I wasn't trying to! I literally fell as soon as you came in!"

She huffed.

"What? You fell, too!"

"I was running to you!"

He pulled her to his chest. "I know, but I'm ok."

She took another deep breath and wrapped her arms around him. "I was scared."

He squeezed her a little tighter. "I know, Babe. I know."

After a few moments, he pushed her away and looked at her. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she assured him and then looked at herself. "Well. . . except for being filthy now."

He chuckled and stood up. He slipped twice, but got himself steady and then helped her up. "We got them."

She nodded. "I saw the guy you knocked out."

He huffed. "And I thought that was the end of them."

She shook her head. "Everyone is in here searching. God knows how long it will take or how many there really are," she mused as she reached back and rubbed her shoulder where she had been hit with the bullet.

He went up the slope and held his hand out to help her up. She took it with a smile and he put his arm around her. She winced when she saw a dead woman lying on the ground close to where the man had been standing. Hotch saw what she was looking at. "She was gone by the time I got in here." She squeezed him to offer some sympathy because she knew it had bothered him. "I was heading back out when he came into the room and then I turned to face him and slipped down that slope. I didn't even see it with these damn glasses on."

She nodded. "I didn't see it either."

"Let's get out of here and let everyone else handle the rest of the search."

She smiled. "Sounds good to me."

When they got to the first junction in the passageway, Hotch stopped and looked at his wife. Kahlan looked at him with raised brows. "Aaron!"

He shifted a little and looked away from her.

She let out a laugh. "You don't know how to get back out, do you?"

He ran his hand through his hair as he studied the passages in front of him. He looked at the ground, but the rock there didn't offer any clues. He finally drooped and looked at her again. She laughed again, and he shook his head. "Shut up, Kahlan, and show me the damn way. I wasn't focused on which way I was going in my hurry to catch the unsubs and save people!"

She giggled and then took his hand and led him to the right. "What would you have done if I wouldn't have shown up?" She also knew he lost all sense of direction in the dark.

He held his head up. "After I took care of that last guy, I would have sat down and waited for one of you, obviously."

She laughed again.

XXX

Rossi about collapsed in relief when Hotch and Kahlan finally emerged from the cave. He walked up to them as he studied them. He shook his head. "Do I even want to know what you two were doing?" They were both covered with mud, slime, and dirt.

Kahlan shot her husband a look and then detached from him and went towards her people without a word.

Hotch gave Rossi a cocky grin as he leaned in close to him. "Doing it in a cave has always been one of Kahlan's fantasies."

The shock on Rossi's face almost made Hotch bust out laughing but his face stayed passive and he just shrugged a little and followed his wife. Rossi stared after him and then looked back to the cave. _There's no way._ He watched as Hotch gave Kahlan's shoulders a little squeeze before he went to the throng of police and such. Rossi shook his head. _There's no way. Hotch wouldn't do that. . . would he?_

XXX

By the time it was all over and the cave had been completely searched, a total of seven unsubs had been either killed or apprehended, four bodies had been found, and eight people had been saved. Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose and then surveyed the scene around him. People were everywhere; there were local police, state police, press, ambulances and EMTs, dog units, his team, Kahlan's people, and victims with their friends and family. It had been a long day and the sun was starting to set and he was glad things were drawing to a close. He felt a hand on his back and turned to see his wife. She gave him a smile. "I think the others can handle it from here, don't you?"

He took a deep breath and looked around him again.

"Go. I can wrap this up," Rossi insisted.

Hotch licked his lips and then looked at Rossi. "You sure?"

"Yes! Go! Take a damn shower! That slime you're both covered in stinks!"

Kahlan huffed and Hotch shook his head as he grabbed her hand. "You heard the man."

She smiled and they went to one of the waiting SUVs to head back to the hotel.

*The new story is added to the website under the 'More' button. I have also added some of Kahlan's people to the 'Character Photos' page.

talesofhoffer. com - no spaces - for those of you who don't know.


	5. Chapter 5

*In case you didn't notice, the rating for this story has changed to 'M'. Adult content below.

**Chapter 5**

Hotch and Kahlan got a few strange looks from the hotel staff as they made their way in the front door and down the hall towards Hotch's room. Kahlan giggled. "I bet they're already drawing straws to see who gets stuck cleaning the bathroom tomorrow."

Hotch shook his head as he opened the door and held it open for her. She went in and turned and looked at him; he'd been much too quiet on the ride back. "Are you alright?"

Her eyes were full of concern and he nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," he tried as he sat down and started taking his shoes off.

She went over to him and lifted his chin to make him look at her. "This is me you're talking to, Aaron."

He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "It's just. . ." He shook his head as he tossed his shoes over by the wall and stood up. "I can't believe we were so wrong."

She studied him and waited to see if he'd continue.

"We would have never solved it if it wasn't for you and your team," he told her.

She took a deep breath and licked her lips. "Oh," she started knowing he wasn't thanking them for their help but beating himself up for needing it in the first place. She shook her head at him. "You weren't wrong, Hun, you just didn't have the whole picture."

He ripped off his vest and threw it over by his shoes. "We were looking for one guy. How is that not wrong?" He peeled his shirt off and threw it into the pile, too.

"All of the physical evidence said one man was doing the sexual assaults. You were going on what you had," she told him as she took off her boots. "You would have figured out eventually."

"And how many more bodies would that have taken? We were here six days and got nowhere. You were here a day and solved it."

She sighed as she pulled off her shirt. "But you all were the ones who knew where they would strike next. You would have used that and gotten the answers you needed."

He shook his head as he pushed his jeans off. "Maybe, but even if it we would have, we could have never taken that cave without your all's help and equipment."

"You would have found the cave and then you would have waited for the right search people. You would have cleared it," she assured him as she took off the dragon skin.

"And once they knew we were out there, they would have killed all those people."

"You don't know that, Aaron. . ."

"Those kids. . . That woman. . ." he struggled as his anger over the whole thing started to really show.

She threw the bulletproof shirt down in disgust. "Alright! Fine! You needed help with a case! My God, Aaron! That was the first time! Your job is not a perfect science no matter how hard you want it to be, and there is nothing wrong with that," she went to him and put her arms around his neck. "How many cases have you solved without help, Hun? Have many unsubs have you put away without ever needing anyone's help? Cut yourself some slack. You all are the best in your field for a reason." He turned his face away from her and she pulled his chin back to her. "You all are the best because you can do what other people can't." He huffed. She shook her head and then locked eyes with him. "And even if you did need help, it was still you running things. You headed up the team that solved this case and saved those people. Those two little kids and that woman you pointed out get to go home to their families because you are an amazing man, Aaron Jackson Hotchner, and don't you forget it!"

He searched her eyes and the honestly of her words shown through them. He took a deep breath and put his hands on her waist. "If I'm amazing, it's only because I have an amazing wife," he told her with a little grin.

"Of course you do," she agreed with a big smile.

He shook his head as he chuckled and then pulled her to his chest. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Hun," she told him and then pushed him away. "But Dave was right. You do stink."

He laughed. "You don't smell all that sexy yourself."

She giggled and then pushed her pants down and stepped out of them.

He reached around her and undid her bra for her as he bent down close to her ear. "Come on, I'll wash your hair."

She quivered as a shiver ran down her spine and she quickly got out of her panties. He chuckled and then slid his boxers down and pulled her towards the bathroom. She giggled. "I get the soap first."

After they both got clean, he moved in behind her and started massaging her head as he washed her hair. The soft sounds she was making made him hard and he leaned in close to her ear. "I love the way me washing your hair turns you on," he whispered and she leaned back against him.

"I love you fingers in so many ways," she confessed.

He chuckled and nibbled on her ear and she giggled and tried to squirm away from him, but he wrapped his arms around her and held her close as his lips made their way down her neck. She got up on her toes and started grinding her butt against his erection, and he moaned as she reached behind her and started stroking him. His breathing became ragged and he turned her around and started a trail of kisses down to her breast as his hand went down to massage her bundle of nerves. "Oh God," she breathed as his fingers found her core and her hand tightened on him and he moaned in pleasure.

After a few minutes, he spun them so she was standing under the water so the shampoo could get rinsed out of her hair as he continued to pleasure her with his hands. When he went to his knees to let his tongue pleasure her, she had to brace herself against the back of the shower with one hand as her other hand went to his head. As her fingers fisted in his hair, he moaned and added his fingers to his assault and he had her squirming so badly, he worried about her falling in the slippery shower so he wrapped an arm around her and held her ass tightly and he took her over the edge as she cried out his name.

Once he pulled away, he looked up at her and chuckled as she tried to get her breathing back under control. He slowly stood up, kissing a trail up her and ended up nibbling on her collar bone. Once she could think straight again, she reached out and grabbed his manhood with one hand and his favorite pleasure spot with the other and his head fell back as his eyes rolled back and goose bumps erupted down his legs despite the heat of the water. She giggled. "Your turn," she told him and moved out from under the water and went to her knees.

His hands went into her hair. "Ohhh, Babe," he breathed as she sucked him and pulled down on his sack. His hips thrusted towards her and she moved her fingers into him and his knees almost buckled as she found his prostate. When she increased her bobbing and her massage, he bit his lip to keep from screaming out in pleasure and she took him over the edge. Once he was done, she moved up him and then moved them into the water again and washed him off. He smiled as he looked down at her. "I so love taking a shower with you."

She giggled and put conditioner in her hair and then in his. "Come on. We need to get done and then we can take everyone out for dinner for a job well done."

He rinsed his hair out and moved to allow her to do the same. "You mean I finally get to meet all your people?"

She smiled. "The ones who are still here at least."

XXX

Hotch's team and most of Kahlan's team all went to the same bar they had been at the night before, and all of the locals were buying them drinks and thanking them because two of the survivors were from the town. When the Hotchner's had gotten to the bar, Hotch saw Kahlan's team interacting with his team as if they were all old friends, and that made him smile. He had silently been a little worried because, and he would never tell anyone, but he thought all of Kahlan's people were a little off. _Hell, they're all a touch psychotic or they wouldn't even be on her team._ He took a deep breath as he looked as his wife smiling and joking with Michaela and JJ. _And you married their queen. What the hell does that say about you, Hotchner?_

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Rossi. He gave Hotch a beer. "This case ended a lot better than I thought it was going to," Rossi confessed.

Hotch nodded. "Yes. It could have gone a whole different way."

Rossi licked his lips as he studied the man he loved as a son. "You know, it's alright that we had a little help. That just shows that we have some pretty good friends."

Hotch tilted his head a little as he thought about it and then smiled. He clinked his beer to Rossi's. "That it does."

After a little while, Kahlan had a round of drinks brought for everyone and she raised her beer. "Here's to all of you and a job well done."

"Here, here," they all exclaimed and started hitting their drinks together.

Once they settled down, Hotch raised his beer. "And I'd like to thank you all," he started as he focused on Kahlan's team. "For coming in and helping us," he continued and then shot a grin to Kahlan. "With your all's help, we ended this thing and saved a few people in the process."

"Here, here," his team agreed and they all clinked drinks again.

XXX

The next morning, Hotch awoke to find Kahlan already dressed. He stretched and sat up as Kahlan turned to him and smiled. She grabbed a coffee off of the table and took it to him. "Morning, Hun," she told him and leaned down and gave him a quick kiss.

He took the coffee. "Morning, Babe. You leaving already?"

She took a deep breath and nodded as she sat down next to him. "Yeah. Jim needs us back to handle something," she started and he opened his mouth to say something but she quickly went on. "And before you ask, I don't know anything yet, but I promise to call you with the details as soon as I know."

He sighed heavily. "It can't be good if he's called you all back so soon."

She shrugged and then leaned down and tied her boots. "It's hard to say."

He threw the covers off of him and moved to sit beside her as he put his arm around her. "Just promise me you'll be careful."

She smiled and leaned into him. "Of course." She stood up and looked at him. "I cleaned your vest, but I have your dirty clothes with me. You think you all will be wrapped up and back home tonight?"

He stood up. "I would think so. It all depends on how the interrogations go."

She nodded and then leaned up to give him a kiss. "Well then, hopefully I'll see you at home tonight."

"Yep. Love you."

"I love you, too, Hun. I'll text you when I know something."

He nodded. "And I'll text you when we're on our way back."

She grabbed her bag and headed for the door, and he sighed as he watched it shut behind her. Then he smiled and quickly grabbed his phone.

As Kahlan got in the SUV with Chuck, Cam, and Michaela, her phone vibrated. She took it out and chuckled at Hotch's 'Be safe!'

'You, too!' she sent back and Chuck took them to the airport and the awaiting jet.

XXX

That afternoon, Hotch was finishing up his interrogation of former Deputy James Hanover, cop turned unsub, when he received Kahlan's text. He stood up and left the room. He was pissed. The man had confessed to killing several people over the years and being the mastermind behind getting everyone else involved and using the cave as their base of operations. It was the forest rangers, though, who used their jobs to troll the forest and pick out their new targets. Hanover was a true psychopath, too. He had no empathy, no feelings at all, and he definitely didn't feel any remorse for what he'd done. The other members of the small police force had been shocked to find out one of their own was involved. They were all under Hanover's spell and never suspected him of anything.

Hotch ran a hand down his face. Staring into the man's eyes for the last hour had left him with a headache and he really didn't want any bad news from his wife. He sighed and opened the text. She wanted him to call her whenever he had the chance. _I need some fresh air anyways._ He told Rossi where he was going and his stomach tightened as he dialed.

"Hey, Hun. You guys aren't done yet?"

He didn't get anything from her tone, but he wasn't sure he would have. "No. Hanover has turned out to be worse than we thought."

"Ouch. You all going to get done today?"

"Yes. I would think in a couple hours, why? What's Clapper having you all do?"

She chuckled. "Nothing you need to worry about. He's got some foreign dignitary coming in and he wanted me to set up extra security for him."

"He's worried about extra security and you don't think that I need to be worried about that?"

"No. . . well. . . it doesn't matter. You don't have to worry because I'm not doing it. I just picked the people and set up the schedule. I'm at home."

He took a deep breath and relaxed. "Oh. Good."

She giggled. "So stop worrying about me and concentrate on getting your ass home tonight. I put on a roast."

"Oh yeah?" he asked and then she giggled again because it was obvious that his mood had just taken a lighter turn. He chuckled. "I can't wait."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

After the Colorado case, the BAU had a few quick cases and they weren't anything too serious but then they were called up to Pennsylvania to help stop a serial killer in Pittsburgh. That case took five long, grueling days, but they solved it and caught the unsub. Thankfully, the next day left them without a case so the team spent the day doing consults and catching up on paperwork, and Hotch was smiling as he made his way out to his car. It was only three minutes after five, and it was the earliest he had gotten to leave in over a month and he was looking forward to eating dinner with his family instead of warming his plate up in the microwave. He hadn't gotten home from Pittsburgh the night before until right at the Joey's bedtime.

When he got home, though, the house was quiet. As he walked in, he noticed the light on in Kahlan's office and then he saw Goliath run past the back doors and went out to find the Joey playing with the dogs. "Where are the boys?" he asked her as she jumped into his arms.

"They're playing ball at the park," she told him as she hugged his neck.

"You better wash up with the hose before you let your mother see you," he told her as he tried to wipe some of the dirt off of her face.

She giggled. "I will."

He sat her down. "What's Mom doing?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. She was fixing dinner."

He mussed her hair and then went back inside and to his wife's den. "What are we. . ." his voice trailed off when he realized with surprise that her head was down on her desk and she was sound asleep. _What the hell?_ He took a deep breath and put his hands on her shoulders and she about jumped a foot in the air. He jumped, too, because he wasn't expecting her to react that way.

"Damn it, Aaron!" she yelled as she spun around and saw who had grabbed her.

"What? All I did was touch you."

She ran a hand down her face. "I can't believe I fell asleep."

He finally stepped up to her and pulled her up into a hug. "Tired, huh?"

She sighed. "It's been a long week."

He leaned back and locked eyes with her. He had seen the dark circles under her eyes when he had gotten home the night before but thought that she just hadn't slept well because she was worried with him being gone so long on his last case, but they looked even worse right then. "Is something going on at work?"

"No, Aaron. I told you, we have a few academy graduations coming up and we're trying to get through a lot of people, that's all."

He licked his lips.

"Stop worrying," she assured him and started for the kitchen.

He followed her. "Like that could ever happen."

She giggled as she pulled open the oven to check on dinner. Happy with its progress, she shut it and opened the fridge and took out a Coke. She cracked it open and noticed Hotch still studying her. "Stop it. You know I'd rather be running around being physical than being cooped up in my office for days on end."

He chuckled and took her soda from her and took a drink. "Well, if you're just tired from a long boring week at work, why don't you go take a hot bath and go ahead and go to bed? I can finish dinner and get the kids in bed."

She shook her head as she tried to take her soda back. "No. I'm alright."

He held it firm. "It's not that often that I'm here to offer; you better accept."

She smiled. "Are you sure? You've been working a hell of a lot harder than I have been."

He smiled and put the soda on the counter and grabbed a beer out of the fridge, opened it, and handed it to her. "Yes. Go relax and enjoy yourself. I'll bring you your plate up when it's done."

She smiled as she took the beer bottle. "The boys are at the park, Joe's in the back with the dogs, and the casserole has about twenty more minutes."

He shoved her out of the kitchen. "I think I can handle it."

She giggled as she made her way towards the steps. He watched her with furrowed brows and as soon as she was out of sight, he took out his phone. He didn't think Kahlan had reneged on the promise she had given him, but he didn't think that promise included things she did on a day to day basis with her job. He called Chuck, and he confirmed that they had been busy all week evaluating people and filling out reports, but Chuck also told him that he had caught her asleep at her desk that morning. "I figured with you home. . . well, I figured she didn't get much sleep," Chuck tried with a snicker.

"Jesus, Charles! She slept all night, thank you," Hotch told him quickly. _My God! Does everyone think they need to talk about my sex life?_

"Then I don't know what the problem is. I know she thinks stuff like this is boring, but. . ." he started.

"Yeah. Well, thanks for telling me. I just wanted to make sure she wasn't doing anything that I needed to be worried about."

"I promise you she hasn't done anything besides sit in her office all week," Chuck assured him.

Hotch chuckled. "Thanks, Chuck," he offered knowing that was the most direct answer Chuck had ever given him.

XXX

Hotch shook his head when he opened the bathroom door and found Kahlan asleep in the tub. He sat the plate in his hand down on the counter with a sigh and then knelt down beside the tub and stroked her hair back from her forehead. She opened her eyes and smiled. "Hey."

"You were supposed to take a bath and then go to bed not fall asleep in the tub."

She giggled as she sat up a little more. "Yeah. I guess the hot water relaxed me more than I thought it would."

He stood up and grabbed her towel. "Here. Get out and go to bed."

She grabbed it as she stood up. "I don't get to eat?" she joked.

"No. You never want to eat when you're tired anyway," he told her with a smile as he grabbed another towel and dried her hair for her.

After he tucked her in, he leaned down and gave her a kiss. "I'll try not to wake you up when I come up."

She smiled and nestled down into her pillow. "Love you."

"I love you, too, Babe."

XXX

After getting the kids to bed and relaxing for a few minutes on the couch, Hotch decided to go ahead and head to bed, too. He had taken his shower in the guest bathroom so he didn't wake Kahlan with the noise, and he opened the door as quietly as he could. He still half expected her to wake up, and when she didn't even stir when he pulled the covers back to climb in, he frowned. The only time he had seen her sleep that soundly was after she had gone swimming. He never understood what it was about water that wore her out so easily, but it always did. He looked at her. _You better not be tired tomorrow._

He got comfortable and reached a hand out and pulled her to him. She unconsciously snuggled into her spot and he bit back a chuckle as he moved the hair out of her face. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Night, Babe," he whispered.

XXX

The next morning, Hotch smiled as made his way into the kitchen. Kahlan was quietly singing along with the stereo as she cooked breakfast. She was also dancing a little, and he just stood there and watched her. She suddenly turned and ducked her head as embarrassment heated her cheeks. "Hey."

He went to her and pulled her into a hug. "Morning, Babe. You seem well rested."

She nodded. "Yes. I slept like a baby, and I think I might actually be able to get thorough the rest of those files today. Thank you."

He chuckled as he filled his coffee mug. "Anything for my lady."

XXX

After a three day case in Georgia, Hotch made it home in time for dinner. He was in a good mood because the case had ended well. The kids were also in good moods because the weather had been nice and they were getting excited about school getting out soon. Kahlan, on the other hand, was a little too quiet for Hotch's liking.

After reading to Joey and telling the boys goodnight, he joined Kahlan on the couch in the living room. He put his hand on her thigh. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

He studied her. "Then why are you acting so withdrawn?"

She gave him a strange look. "Sorry. I didn't know I was."

"Is everything alright at work?" he asked as he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her next to him.

"Yes, Aaron. Everything's fine," she assured him as she cuddled up against him.

His brows furrowed, but he let it drop. S_o then what's wrong?_ He reached up and moved the hair away from her face. "If I don't get a case tomorrow, do you want to go out to eat, just you and me?"

She sat up and gave him a big smile. "When haven't been able to go on a date in a long time."

"I bet I can get Garcia to watch the kids," he suggested.

"Or Donna," she added.

He took out his phone. "I'll call her right now."

XXX

The next morning, Hotch silently prayed that they didn't get a case. They didn't and he spent the whole day looking forward to spending some quality time with his wife. Donna had agreed to watch the kids and she was planning on keeping them overnight. He smiled to himself. He hadn't been intimate with his wife since Colorado, and he was looking forward to the night even more so than the date.

At about four o'clock, he text Kahlan. 'Have you decided where you want to eat yet?'

'Actually,' she text back almost immediately and his heart sank. 'Would you care if we just order in?' she asked and then he smiled.

'Sounds fine to me,' he answered back with a sly grin. _That means we'll be home alone even longer._

XXX

That evening, Hotch walked in his house with a smile on his face, but it quickly left him when he saw his wife. She was already in her pajamas and curled up on the side of the couch, sound asleep. He frowned and the flower he had been holding up in his hand went limply to his side. _So much for quality time._

He shook his head and then went to the kitchen and put the tulip he had taken from the yard in a cup of water and made his way to the family room. He sat down beside her, and when she didn't stir, he frowned again. He reached up and stroked her hair back from her forehead. "Kahlan?" he called softly.

She moaned and twitched her head away from his hand.

"Babe?"

Her brows furrowed a little as she moaned again, but she didn't wake up.

He shook his head and got up. He straightened her legs out on the couch and then grabbed the blanket off the chair and threw it over her. When she snuggled down into the cushions, he smiled and then leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I'll go take my shower and be back," he whispered in her ear. The sides of her mouth tilted up slightly and he grinned.

On his way up the stairs, he called Chuck.

"Hey, Hotch," Chuck answered.

"What the hell have you and my wife been doing now?" Hotch asked him.

"What do you mean?" Chuck asked cryptically.

"We were supposed to go out tonight and I get home to find her asleep on the couch. Why is she so tired?"

Chuck huffed. "Really?"

"Really."

"Hmmm. . ." Chuck mused.

"What?" Hotch asked as he started to get undressed.

"We took some cadets through the obstacle course today, but we've done that a thousand times before."

Hotch's brows furrowed as he thought about it. "Have you noticed that she's been a little off lately?"

Chuck sighed heavily. "Yeah, she's been kind of out of it all week. I thought maybe something was going on at home."

Hotch ran a hand over the back of his neck. "Nothing that I know about. You sure she hasn't said anything to you?"

"No, Man, I swear. I even asked her if anything was bothering her, but she just brushed me off," Chuck admitted.

Hotch could tell Chuck didn't like not knowing what was going on with his best friend any more than Hotch didn't like not knowing what was going on with his wife. "Well, I guess, I'm going to have to make her talk to me tonight."

"Please, and let me know what you find out."

"Yep. I'll talk to you later, Chuck."

"Yeah. Good luck."

Hotch licked his lips as he looked towards the bedroom door. _What the hell is going on with you, Babe?_ He took a deep breath and went ahead and took his shower.

When he got back downstairs, he cringed at the nightmare Kahlan was having. His put his hand out to shake her, but then he stopped himself as that little voice told him that might not be the safest thing to do because it was obvious she was fighting something or someone. He looked around and then picked up one of the throw pillows off the chair. "Kahlan!" he called out to see if he could wake her up. He shook his head. "Kahlan!" he called out even louder and threw the pillow at her.

She came up off the couch in a rush with her right hand reared back as she looked around with frantic eyes.

"It's ok! It's just me!" Hotch told her as he moved into her field of vision but made sure to stay out of arm's reach.

As soon as she saw him, she relaxed and then ran a hand down her face. "Jesus Christ, Aaron! You scared the shit out of me!" She sat back down and picked up the pillow and shot him a questioning look.

"Sorry," he told her as he sat down next to her. "But I wasn't about to touch you with the way you were struggling or fighting or whatever you were doing."

She ducked her head. "Sorry."

"What the hell were you dreaming about?"

She shook her head. "It was just a weird dream."

He raised his brows indicating that he wanted more of an explanation than that.

She shrugged. "No seriously. I was hunting with dad and then. . ." she started and then a shudder ran through her. "And then giant ants attacked us."

"Awww, come here," he told her as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close knowing how much the dream must have bothered her with her hate of ants.

She huffed and then shuddered again. "Thank God you woke me up. One of them was getting really close."

He bit his lip to hold back the grin that wanted to appear as he gave her a comforting squeeze. "You're ok," he assured her.

She nodded against his chest. "Yeah."

After a few moments he pushed her away enough to look at her. "Why are you so tired?"

She ran a hand through her hair and shrugged. "I don't know."

He studied her. "Is everything alright?"

The concern in his tone made her heart clench. "Yes, Aaron. I'm just tired, sorry."

He frowned. "Kahlan, you normally have almost as much energy as Joey does. What's going on?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. I'm not doing anything that you're not aware of, I swear!"

He took a deep breath. "No, that's not what I meant. You promised to always tell me what you were doing, and I believe you."

"Then what do you mean?"

He grabbed her hand. "Are you feeling alright? Is everything ok with you?"

She nodded. "Yes, Aaron. I'm just tired, that's all."

His brows furrowed as he studied her some more. The circles under her eyes had turned into dark bags. "Babe. . ."

She stood up. "I'm fine, Aaron." She looked at her watch. "I'm sorry I feel asleep, but we can still go out, it's not too late."

He shook his head as he stood up, pulled her to him, and looked her in the eyes. "I'm fine staying home. Spending time with you is what's important."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The Hotchner couple ended up ordering in a pizza, and they spent the night relaxing on the couch in each other's arms as they watched a movie. Before the movie was even over, though, Kahlan was snoring softly against Hotch's legs as she rested her head on his lap. When the movie ended, he cut the TV off. "Babe?" he called as he nudged her. He had stretched out his legs to the coffee table and they had almost gone to sleep with the lack of movement. "Kahlan?" he called a little louder as he shook her shoulder.

"Huh?" she asked as she sat up with squinted eyes.

"Let's go to bed," he told her as he moved his feet to the floor.

She ran a hand down her face. "Sorry."

He shook his head. "It's fine, Babe." He stood up and pulled her up. "Come on."

She nodded and then made her way toward the stairs.

He shook his head as he followed her. _If this happens again, Babe, you and I are going to have a long talk._

XXX

The next morning, Rossi stopped by Hotch's office. He walked in with a smile but that soon left him when he saw Hotch standing by his window staring off into space. He sat down in his usual seat. "Ut- uh, what's wrong?"

Hotch startled and turned to see who had joined him without him even realizing it. "Oh, hey, Dave."

Rossi studied him. "Damn. Was last night so good that you can't get into working this morning?" he joked. He knew Hotch had planned a date-night with Kahlan.

Hotch huffed and then flopped down into his seat. "Kahlan was too tired to do anything."

Rossi sat up a little straighter. "What?"

Hotch shook his head. "She was asleep on the couch when I got there, and then she fell asleep while we were watching a movie."

Rossi's brows furrowed. "What the hell has she gotten herself into now?"

Hotch half shrugged. "Nothing, and Chuck even confirmed that."

Rossi sank back down into the chair. "Well, then I guess you don't have anything to worry about."

Hotch ran a hand along his chin. "You don't understand. This is the second time it's happened, and she's usually the last one to go to bed and the first one up, Dave. This isn't normal."

Rossi could tell by Hotch's tone that he was worried. "We all get run down sometimes. Kahlan can't be immune to that."

Hotch shook his head. "No, but. . ."

"But what?"

Hotch smirked. "She doesn't look good. I mean. . . she doesn't look bad or anything, but. . ."

"Something's just not right?"

Hotch sighed. "Yes, and I asked her but she says she's fine."

Rossi winced. "Well. . ."

"Even Chuck's worried."

"How was she this morning?"

Hotch half shrugged. "Off. She tried to hide it but. . ."

Rossi ran a hand along his goatee as he considered it. "Well, I suggest you give it a couple days. Maybe she's coming down with something. If things don't turn around then you can tell her your worried and that you want her to go to the doctors."

Hotch licked his lips.

"She's blackmailed you into going; you should be able to figure out some way to do it back to her."

Hotch smiled. "I can play by her rules."

Rossi nodded. "Oh, I know."

XXX

After four days in Texas, and Hotch profiling his wife over the phone every night, he thought things were alright. When he finally got home at about nine thirty on Thursday night, he knew the kids would be in bed, and he had plans for his wife. He stopped by the side of the road on the way home and snuck into someone's yard. He had no idea whose yard it was, and it wasn't on his normal route, but they were the only roses he had seen that were fully bloomed so far. He took a knife out of his pocket and carefully trimmed off the best looking bloom he could find. The bush was full of them, so he didn't think the owner would really mind even if he or she did notice.

As he walked around the block, no need parking close to where the crime was going to be committed, a little grin of triumph made its way to his face for not getting caught. Sure, he could have stopped at a florist and bought her a whole dozen roses, but Kahlan preferred little tokens like the rose in his hand so much more than something that required money. If she suspected he did something a little devious to attain that token, well, that made it even better. He put the orange rose down gently on his passenger seat and then started his car. _And it's her second favorite color, too!_

When he got into the house, he found Kahlan in the family room. He was glad to see her awake and watching a movie and he grinned at her watching 'The Empire Strikes Back' again. He walked up behind her and put the rose in front of her face. Even from behind her, he could tell she smiled.

"It's beautiful," she exclaimed as she took it from him.

"Careful of the thorns," he told her as he leaned in and kissed her cheek and then made his way around the couch and sat down next to her. When he saw her inspecting the stem, he bit back a smile.

"Where did you get this?" she asked as she turned to look him in the eyes.

He gave her his most innocent look. "I don't know what you mean?"

"Aaron Jackson Hotchner! Did you steal this out of Mr. Baker's yard?"

"I don't know who Mr. Baker is."

She fixed him with a look. "He lives about three streets over and he's the only one in the whole neighborhood with orange roses."

He licked his lips and ducked his head a little. "Maybe."

She shook her head. "I can't believe you have turned into a thief."

He held his chin up. "If there are no witnesses, it's hard to for a crime to be proven to actually have happened."

She giggled and got up. "If he notices it, he's going to think it was me because I have talked to him about them almost every time I go for a walk."

He followed her to the kitchen as she put the rose in a cup of water. "You can deny it and you wouldn't be lying," he offered.

She giggled again and then wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned up to give him a kiss. "Thank you. I love it."

He beamed, but as he studied her, his heart sank a little. "Are you feeling alright?"

She nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"You look a little wore out."

She huffed and pulled away from him. "Thanks, Aaron. Love you, too."

He cringed. "You know that's not what I meant."

She rolled her eyes at him and moved the rose to the island.

"Babe?"

"What?"

He grabbed her waist and pulled her to him. "You are the most beautiful woman on this planet."

She huffed again and turned her head to watch the TV.

He pulled her chin back so she had to look at him and then leaned down and kissed her, passionately. When she didn't really reciprocate, he pulled back. It had been almost a month since they had been intimate, and he was expecting her to be a little more willing than she was being. "Want to go take a shower?" he tried as he quirked his brows at her.

When she hesitated he took a step back from her, but she quickly gave him a smile. "Can I finish my movie first?"

"Like you haven't seen it a hundred times before."

She raised her chin. "Four hundred and twenty six, to be exact."

He huffed. "Never mind. It's obvious you're not in the mood."

She took a deep breath. "Sorry. It's just been a long day."

He nodded and headed for the stairs. "Yeah. It's been a long month."

"Hun. . ." she tried.

He shook his head. "It's fine, Kahlan. You watch your movie while I go take a cold shower."

She took a deep breath as she watched him sulk up the stairs. _Damn it, Kay. You haven't shown him any attention lately. Get your ass upstairs!_ She turned off the TV and headed up.

He emerged from the shower to find her waiting in bed. He raised his brows. "It couldn't be over that quickly."

She pat the bed beside her. "The good parts were over anyway. Come here."

"So once Han Solo is frozen it's all over for you, huh?" he asked with a grin as he climbed on the bed.

"You know it." She giggled and then pulled him to her and kissed him.

When he pulled away, he fixed her with a serious look. "You don't have to force yourself to make love to me, Babe. I understand if you're not in the mood." _Even though that would be a first._

She shook her head. "I'm not forcing myself, Hun. I was just messing with you."

He eyed her for a few seconds. "You sure?"

She reached into his sweats and started massaging him. "Yep."

His manhood jumped to attention as a soft moan escaped him. "Ohhhh," he breathed. She giggled and pulled him closer and then pushed him down onto his back. She pulled his sweats off of him and threw them onto the floor. He chuckled and then she descended on him. As soon as her lips closed over him he almost lost it. "Damn, Babe."

She giggled and that sent a shiver through him. "Relax, Hun," she urged as she stroked him with her hand and let her tongue snake around his head.

"It's been so long. . . I don't know. . . Mmmmmm. . . how long I'm going to last. . . Ohhhhh. . . if you keep doing that," he got out as he started panting.

She giggled again. "Oh, is this getting to you?"

"Uh-huh," he hummed as his hands fisted into the blanket.

"So you'd really like this then," she started as her fingers went in search of his prostate.

He started to move away from her, not wanting to end it before they even really got started, but as soon as her finger tips found their target, he lost his ability to think. His eyes rolled back and it didn't take her anytime and his butt arched up off the bed as he cummed, hard and fast. She stroked him until he was back down on the bed and she giggled at him. He looked at her apologetically as he tried to get his breathing back to normal. He ran a hand down his face. "Damn, Babe. That hit me like a freight train."

She gave him a small smile. "I'm sorry it's been so long."

He sat up and pulled her up the bed. "Well, it's my turn to return the favor."

She shook her head. "You don't need to. You've had a long day and a long case. You deserve to get some sleep."

He sighed. "You weren't in the mood. You just did that. . ."

She shut him up with a kiss. "You needed it, and now you need to go clean yourself up."

He studied her for a second and then he shook his head as he got up and went to the bathroom. After he cleaned himself off, he threw the washrag down and headed back to the bedroom with plans of bringing up his concerns, but they quickly died on his tongue when he saw that her eyes were closed. _Really? You fell asleep that fast?_ He licked his lips as he put his sweats back on. When he climbed into bed and reached out for her, he could tell by the way she moved to him that she was truly asleep. _Damn, Babe._ He sighed and leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Night, Babe," he whispered. _And we will talk in the morning!_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

When the alarm went off, Hotch moaned and hit the button without even opening his eyes. He sighed and then his eyes snapped open when he realized Kahlan was still beside him. He frowned. That was only the second time he had ever woken up on a school day and she was still in bed, and his heart sank. _What the hell?_ He reached up and moved the hair out of her face. "Babe?"

She moaned as she stretched and then jumped up into a sitting position. "Shit!"

He looked at her with raised brows as she scrambled to get out from underneath the covers. "You still have plenty of time, Babe," he tried as he got up.

She shook her head. "I can't believe I overslept," she insisted as she ran a hand through her hair.

He studied her as she went to the bathroom. _And you got plenty of sleep last night, so why did you?_ "I'll get the kids up," he called to her as he slipped on his t-shirt and then left the bedroom.

By the time she got down stairs, all of the kids were at the table eating breakfast and Hotch greeted her with a cup of coffee. She took it with a smile. "Thank you."

He nodded. "I'm going to go get dressed," he told her and then went back up stairs.

When the kids went to go get ready, Hotch came back down stairs, and Kahlan almost spit out her coffee when she saw him in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She frowned. "Don't you have to work today?"

He picked up his coffee and took a drink. "I took the morning off."

She looked at him with suspicious eyes. "Why?"

He sat down next to her. "Because we need to talk."

Her frown deepened. "About what?"

Just then Joey came down stairs and ran into the dining room. "Have you seen my back pack?"

Hotch smiled at her. "It's hanging on the hook in the laundry room, right where it's supposed to be."

She giggled and then ran into there. "Thanks, Daddy!" she called and ran back upstairs.

Hotch chuckled as he watched her disappear. He shook his head and then turned back to his wife.

"What's going on, Aaron?" she asked him.

The boys came up and came in and told them both goodbye. They both eyed Hotch and they could tell something was going on, but they didn't ask any questions. "Love you guys. Have a good day," Hotch called out to them as they went to the door.

Joey came back down and sat down at the table. She looked back and forth between her mother and her father, and she frowned. "What's going on?"

Kahlan shrugged. "I don't know," she told her and then fixed Hotch with the same look that Joey was using.

Hotch looked at both of his girls and swallowed hard. _I hate it when they outnumber me!_ He took a deep breath. "I just want to spend a little extra time with your mother," he offered.

Kahlan snorted and Joey's Hotch stare came out in full force. "Why?"

Hotch looked at his watch. "Isn't it time for your bus to be here?"

Joey's stare never let up. "I still have three minutes," she told him without even looking at the time.

Kahlan tried hard to stop the grin from forming, but she lost the battle and actually giggled. Joey turned her attention to her, though, and the giggled got choked off. Joey shook her head at them both. "What's going on?"

"This is about your mother, not me," Hotch put in.

Joey's stare turned into a look of relief as she turned back to her mother. "Oh."

Kahlan looked back and forth between them and then gave Hotch a dirty look. "You had to get her on your side, didn't you?"

Hotch grinned. "That's my girl."

Kahlan huffed. "Your girl better get her butt out the door before she misses her bus."

Joey giggled, jumped up, and gave them both a kiss. "Love you," she called out to them as she went to the door.

"Love you, too, Angel!" Hotch called out with a grin as he watched her leave.

Kahlan got up and took her mug to the sink, and Hotch jumped up to follow her. "Don't think you are going to get out of talking to me, Mrs. Hotchner."

She looked at her watch. "I have to go. . ."

He shook his head. "No you don't. I've already called Chuck. He said you all didn't have anything pressing going on this morning and he knows you're going to be late," he told her with a look of triumph.

She snorted. "Thought of everything, huh?"

He grinned. "I try."

She wilted. "Fine," she started and went back to the table. "I really don't want to hear what you have to say. It scares me to think that you have to corner me to do it. What could you have going on that you have resorted to such drastic measures?"

His brows furrowed as he sat down next to her. "This isn't about me. This is about you."

She sat back and studied him. "What about me?"

He licked his lips and took a deep breath.

When she saw how serious he was getting she grabbed his hand. "What?"

He ran a hand over the back of his neck. "Are you alright?"

She giggled. "Yes, Aaron."

He pulled his hand back from her as he shook his head. "No, I mean. . . Really alright?"

"Really alright?" she asked as she snorted back another giggle. "Yes, Hun."

He sat up straighter. "This isn't funny, Kahlan!"

She sank back into her seat. "Alright. I'm sorry, but I don't know what you mean."

He ran a hand through his hair as he studied her. Suddenly a thought hit him. _God, is she pregnant?_ He shook his head. He was pretty sure her cycle wasn't due for another week, and he was positive she had had it last month. He ran a hand down his jaw. _No, she couldn't be. She was the exact opposite when she was pregnant with Joey. She had more energy when she was pregnant then she normally does and her sex drive bordered on nympho, too._

She searched his eyes. "Instead of that internal dialogue you're having with yourself, it might be easier for me to figure out what you're talking about if you were actually speaking to me."

He shifted in his seat. "I'm worried about you."

She saw the concern in his eyes and she shook her head. "I swear, Aaron. I promised to tell you if I was doing anything! Why don't you believe me when. . ."

"No! It's not that!"

"Then what?" she asked as she raised her brows to invite him to explain a little further.

He licked his lips. "I'm worried about how you've been feeling."

Her brows furrowed. "I feel fine."

"Kahlan, you've been tired a lot lately and then last night. . ."

"Oh my God, call the paper! Kahlan Hotchner wasn't in the mood for sex one time. Damn, Aaron, had I known it would bother you that much, I would have kept you up all night!"

He sighed and rolled his eyes at her. "I'm serious, Kahlan! I'm worried that there's something wrong with you!"

"What could possibly be wrong with me?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, but I think you need to go to the doctor."

She stood up. "I am not!"

He stood up. "Kahlan!"

"I am fine, Aaron!" she insisted as she took a step back from him.

"Babe, please!"

She inhaled deeply as she studied him. The concern in his eyes made her heart hurt, so she went to him and put her arms around his neck. "I'm fine, Aaron. I was just tired."

He put his hands on her waist. "But you're never tired. You go to bed last and you're the first one up. I'm worried, Babe."

"There's nothing wrong with me needing a nap, Aaron. You take them all the time."

He nodded. "You're right. I do, but you don't. The dark bags under your eyes are also not normal."

She took a deep breath.

"I thought for a second that maybe you were pregnant, but. . ."

She laughed and pulled away from him. "No. I am not pregnant, I assure you."

"Well, something's not right," he tried as he pulled her back to him.

"I'm sorry to have worried you. I will try to act more normal."

He huffed. "That's not what I want, Kahlan."

"And what do you want, Aaron?"

"I want to know that you're alright!"

She sighed.

"Kahlan. . ."

She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. "I'm fine, Aaron." He locked eyes with her and she pat him on the chest. "Now go get ready for work. You know you will feel guilty as hell if there's a case and you aren't there to go solve it with the team."

His eyes narrowed. _I hate it when she uses shit against me!_

"Tell me you wouldn't?"

He licked his lips. "Alright, Kahlan."

She smiled and shoved him towards the stairs. "And stop worrying about me!"

He shook his head as he climbed the stairs. _If things don't turn around. . ._ He glanced over his shoulder at her, and she was going to her den. He shook his head. _But now that she knows what I'm worried about, she's going to hide it from me and I'll never know if it's actually better or not. Damn it! How the hell did you fall into that trap, Hotchner?_

XXX

As it was, the BAU did get a case and they headed out to Detroit to help stop a serial rapist. After the initial case briefing on the jet, Hotch went back to his usual seat and text Kahlan and she sent back her usual. Then he called Chuck.

"Hey, Spike. How's it going?" Chuck answered.

"Kahlan's right there, isn't she?" Hotch asked.

"Yep. What do you need?"

"Call me when you get a chance."

"I can do that. Talk to you later, Man."

Hotch ended the call and put his phone away. Then he turned to Rossi and told him about his discussion with Kahlan.

Rossi tried to keep the grin off of his face, but when Hotch told him about his suspicions of Kahlan then hiding things from him, he busted out laughing.

"It's not funny, Rossi!"

Rossi coughed and choked and finally got himself back under control. "No it's not. I'm sorry, but you were the one who boasted about being able to play by her rules. Apparently you're not quite as good as she is."

Hotch sank down into his seat a little. "I don't understand her reluctance to go to the damn doctor. She doesn't hate them like I do."

Rossi appraised him for a minute. "No woman wants the person they love to tell them they think something is wrong with them, Aaron, especially a woman in Kahlan's shape."

Hotch huffed.

"You know she doesn't like showing weakness."

Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "So how would you handle it?"

Rossi grinned. "Honestly, with a woman like Kahlan?" Hotch quickly nodded. Rossi chuckled. "I'd guilt her into it."

Hotch's brows furrowed in his dislike of the suggestion.

"Well, if you can't think of anything to blackmail her with, and you truly feel there is a reason she should go, then you are going to have to guilt her into going. Use the kids against her if you have to. She's done that plenty of times to you."

Hotch pursed his lips as he thought about it. He finally nodded. "You're right. I may have to stoop to her level."

Rossi smiled and pat Hotch's leg. "That's my boy!"

XXX

Chuck didn't get around to calling Hotch until that evening, but Hotch was on his way to the hotel so he called him back as soon as he was in his room. "So how was she today?" Hotch asked him.

Chuck huffed. "What the hell happened this morning?"

"Why?" Hotch drew out.

"Cause she was in a pissy mood all damn day. I haven't seen her like that since. . . well, for a while."

Hotch took a deep breath and knew he was referring to when he had been gone. "She didn't seem mad before she left."

"She wasn't mad at me per say, but it was like she was pissed at the world. I tried joking with her, I tried asking her what was wrong, I tried everything. And those poor damn cadets, she was taking her frustrations out on them. She almost made a couple of them collapse with how hard she was pushing them. Hell, she was pushing me!"

Hotch's brows furrowed as he sank down onto the bed. "Sorry. I tried talking to her this morning. I told her I thought something was wrong and I suggested she go to the doctors, but she said she was fine and told me to stop worrying."

"Well, you're on a case, right?"

"Yes. In Detroit, and it'll probably take a couple days."

"I'll keep an eye on her, but I don't know what else I can do. I'm certainly not going to tell her I think something's wrong, too. She'll think we're ganging up on her."

"Yeah, you better not. We don't need her mad at us."

"No, no we don't," Chuck agreed.

Hotch chuckled. "Alright, let me know if you see anything."

"Yep, good luck with your case," Chuck told him and then ended the call.

Hotch sighed heavily and then called home. After talking to each of the kids, he talked to Kahlan, but he didn't think she was mad. She wasn't her perfect self, but she didn't seem mad. As he put his phone away, he massaged his forehead. _Maybe I'm stressing over this too much. Maybe she is fine._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Kahlan seemed fine on the phone the whole time Hotch was on the Detroit case, and Chuck had reported that she had gotten better each day so Hotch stopped worrying so much. The first night he was home, Kahlan even surprised him by changing into sexy lingerie by the time he was done in the shower. His dimples emerged as he looked her up and down. She had on a deep purple gown that clung to her curves and was see-through in just enough places to make his heart skip a beat.

"You like?" she asked with a grin.

He nodded quickly as he took two long strides and pulled her to him.

"I'm sorry I've been neglecting you lately," she told him as she grabbed his waist and pulled him even closer.

He put his hands around her ribs and as his fingers closed around her, his breath hitched in his chest.

She saw his smile turn into a frown. "What?"

He looked her in the eyes. "You've lost weight."

She shrugged. "Just a couple pounds," she offered and then moved a hand to the back of his head and pulled him down to give him a kiss.

He held back, though. "How many is a couple, Kahlan?"

"Two since I last weighed myself," she told him lightly and reached into his sweats and started to massage his manhood.

He fought down the pleasure he was starting to feel and pulled her hand out of his pants. "What do you weigh now?" he asked knowing that her previous answer didn't reveal anything concrete because she could have weighed herself two days ago for all he knew. When a ghost of a wince crossed her face, his heart sank. "Answer the question, Kahlan."

She licked her lips and held her chin up. "108."

His eyes closed and his hands balled into fists.

"I'm fine, Aaron."

"Kahlan Lavonne Hotchner! You have weighed 120, give or take a couple pounds, the entire time I've known you except when you were pregnant and after Indiana. How does losing that much weight make you fine?"

"I've been working out," she tried.

He huffed. "And muscle adds weight."

She gave him a grin. "Is this your way of telling me you're not in the mood?"

He licked his lips, shook his head, and then studied her. He couldn't see any of the lust in her eyes that he normally would have, and he had to wonder if she was just doing it to make him think nothing was wrong. _One way to find out_. He grinned. "Oh, I'm always in the mood, you know that."

She smiled. "Then come on," she told him as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards the bed.

Once they got next to it, she tried to turn and make him lay down on his back, but he maneuvered out of her hands and laid her down on her back. "I want to start," he told her as he climbed up beside her and started kissing her neck as his fingers pulled up the hem of the gown.

"But I had plans for you," she told him as she tried to roll them over.

He basically put his whole upper body on her to stop her movement as his hand snaked up the inside of her leg. "I've got plans, too. I need to repay you for last time," he told her as he nuzzled her head to the side and bit down on the bump behind her ear.

She giggled. "You don't have to do that." She tried to squirm away from him, but he held her firm.

When his fingers reached inside her panties, his heart sank. It was obvious she wasn't turned on in the least. He pulled back and looked her in the eyes. "Babe?"

She shook her head. "It'll be alright. Just grab the oil."

"You're not really in the mood, just like last time."

"Yes I am," she tried as she reached into his sweats again.

He pulled her hand back. "Just stop, Kahlan. You are not going to force yourself into doing something you really don't want to do."

"I do want to," she insisted as she reached up into his hair, hit a few spots, and then pulled his hair as her knee bent up and started to massage his manhood. He moaned as his eyes closed and her other hand hit a pleasure point on his inner thigh. She giggled and then pulled his head closer to her. "I know you want to, Aaron," she whispered into his ear as his whole lower body started quivering.

"Oh, God," he breathed but then he shook his head. "Stop," he got out in a rush as he tried to pull away.

She quickly moved her hand and hit his favorite pleasure spot as a low groan escaped him. "You sure you want me to stop?" she asked him as her tongue traced the edge of his ear.

He shook his head.

"You don't want me to stop?"

His breaths started coming in ragged intervals as she increased her pressure and he couldn't even remember his own name let alone what he had been worried about moments before.

When his eyes rolled back, she smiled and turned them over as she started stroking him. His toes curled as she forced his sweats down with her foot. He was already covered in precum and she spread that around him as she took off her panties and then mounted him as she grabbed another pleasure spot. His whole body quivered as she sank down on him, and once she was seated all the way, she finally let go of him. After a few moments he finally snapped halfway back to awareness. "God, Kahlan. You're so tight," he exclaimed as his hands went to her hips.

"You like that, though," she grinned as his hips rose up to meet her.

"Oh yeah, I do," he breathed.

Her hands fisted into his shirt as she bent her head down and started riding him faster, and he moaned with every downward push.

He reached up and massaged her breasts, but as he focused on her, his heart skipped a beat. His fingers traced up to her neck and out to her chin, and he forced it up so he could see her face. Her eyes were closed, and while that wasn't surprising, when he saw her wince as he pushed up into her, he about died. "Oh my God, Babe!" he exclaimed as he rolled them over and pulled out of her.

"What did you do that for?" she asked him as her face filled with confusion.

"I was hurting you!"

She shook her head. "No you weren't."

"Oh yeah," he asked as his fingers found her core and found her just as dry as she had been before. "You were saying?"

She reached over to her nightstand drawer. "So I'll get the oil."

He pulled her back before she could reach it. "Stop, Kahlan."

She looked at him and cringed. "But you need. . ."

"I don't need anything except for you to be honest with me."

"But you're still hard," she tried as she eyed him.

"And he'll go soft. It won't be the first time in his life that he didn't get to finish," he insisted as he pulled up his sweats and then turned to her with hard eyes.

"But you'll like. . ." she started as she reached for his pleasure points again.

He grabbed her hand and held it pinned to the bed. "And don't do that again. When you do that, I can't even think."

She giggled. "I know."

He shook his head at her and had to pin her other hand down as she tried to sneak it to its target. "Now, what the hell is going on?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. I was just trying to be a good wife and take care of my husband's needs."

"And what about your needs and wants, Kahlan? Do you not want me anymore?" he asked even though he knew that wasn't the problem, but he had to get her to admit what was wrong one way or another.

Horror filled her face. "What?! Of course I want you, Aaron!"

"So I don't turn you on anymore?"

"Yes! It's just. . ."

"It's what, Kahlan?" he asked as he let go of her and moved back as he watched her, expecting her to finally say what was wrong.

She sat up and folded her arms across her chest as her eyes turned cold, and he mentally winced because he knew she had just gotten mad. "First you're upset I wouldn't have sex with you and now you're upset because I am?"

He took a deep breath and swallowed. "It's not about what I want, Babe. Why. . ."

"But it is!" she insisted as she got off the bed. "You need to make up your mind, Aaron!"

He ran hand down his face and stood up. "Kahlan," he started and then took another deep breath. "First you're overly tired, then you aren't in the mood, and now you've lost weight. . ." He advanced on her and grabbed her hand. "I'm worried about you."

She huffed and pulled her hand away from him. "I am fine! Maybe I'm stressed about something, maybe I'm just not in the mood. That happens to people, you know."

He licked his lips. "Are you stressed about something?"

"Yeah!" she yelled.

He stopped breathing as he waited for her answer. _Finally, the truth comes out._

"You being more temperamental than me is stressing me out!"

His breath left him in a rush. _And now she's too mad to talk about this rationally. Son of a bitch!_ "Alright, Kahlan, I'm sorry. I'm sorry if me being worried about my wife stresses you out," he told her as he flopped down onto the bed prepared to drop it for the night.

She snorted as she shook her head. "You really think something is wrong with me?"

He looked up at her. "I don't know; that's why I want you to go to the doctor to find out."

She huffed. "You don't think I know my own body well enough to know when something's wrong or not?"

He could still hear the anger in her tone and it was starting to make him angry. He stood up. "Why won't you go to the damn doctor? You blackmailed me into going!"

She held up her chin. "I think I would know if some psycho was drugging me!"

His eyes went wide at her words.

As soon as she saw his face, her heart skipped a beat. "Oh my God, Aaron. I am so sorry!" she told him as she went to him in a rush. "I did not mean that!" she tried as she grabbed his hand.

He turned his face away from her; the statement really didn't bother him as much as she thought it did. It was the truth after all. _But if I can use that to make her feel guilty enough. . ._ "Whatever, Kahlan. I'm sorry I brought it up," he told her weakly as he pulled away from her.

"Please forgive me, Aaron! I didn't mean that!"

He swallowed. _Play it up a little more, Hotchner, you don't have her there yet. _He shook his head. "It's fine, Kahlan," he told her as he focused on the floor.

She wanted to die. _He's just worried about you and you turned into a bitch. What the hell, Kay? _She never wanted to say anything mean to him. She put a hand on his back. "You know what? I'll go to the doctor. I'll go and then you'll see there isn't anything to worry about. How's that?"

He bit back the smile that wanted to show. _Ha! Eat your heart out, Dave!_ He turned back to her. "You'll go and have a complete physical?"

She cringed and then took a deep breath. "Yes, Aaron. I want you to know there is nothing wrong with me."

He took a deep breath and grabbed her hand. "And when there isn't, you can tell me 'I told you so' a hundred times."

She gave him a small smile. "And then you can stop worrying."

He nodded once. "Deal."

"You forgive me for being an ass?"

He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. "Of course I forgive you, Babe, I love you."

She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him. "I love you, too, Hun."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The next morning, Rossi was standing in the bullpen when Hotch walked through the double doors. He chuckled and followed Hotch to his office. "Does that grin mean what I think it means?"

Hotch sat down at his desk. "Yep. I got her to agree to go to the doctor," he told him smugly and then told him how he had done it.

Rossi raised his coffee mug up to him. "I'm proud of you, Aaron. I was a little worried you wouldn't be able to do it."

Hotch huffed. "I can be just like her, I just chose not to."

Rossi chuckled. "I see. You take the higher moral ground?"

Hotch chuckled. "Yep."

Rossi shook his head.

XXX

After a case briefing, the team headed out to Wisconsin. Hotch text his wife like usual, but the first chance he had after lunch, he called her to remind her that she needed to call and get an appointment.

She sighed. "Yes, Aaron. I've already called. The quickest they could get me in is next Thursday. Is that good enough for you or do I need to go to a different doctor?"

He winced at her tone. "It's with your regular doctor?"

"Yes."

"Well, that would be better than going to someone who doesn't know you," he tried.

"So that's ok with you? I don't want you to have to keep worrying for so long."

"That's fine, Kahlan."

"Are you sure? That's nine whole days."

He snorted. "I'll try to keep my worry to myself."

She giggled and he relaxed a little. "Ok. I'll talk to you tonight."

"Yep. Love you," he told her.

"Love you, too, Hun," she answered and ended the call.

He took a deep breath and put his phone back into his pocket. _I can last nine days._ He nodded to himself and started back to the conference room where the team was working on the profile. _As long as nothing else happens, that is._

XXX

After three days, Hotch didn't get home until late, and he made his way into the house as quietly as possible. He looked around as he locked the door behind him, and was surprised to see the light on in Kahlan's den. He wasn't surprised she was still up, but he was surprised she was still working. He sat his briefcase down and went to her. When he pushed the door open, his heart stopped. Kahlan was sitting in her chair, Muffin was in her lap, and Kahlan was crying. He went to her in a rush. "Oh my God! What?" he asked as desperation made him kneel down in front of her and grab her hand as a thousand horrible scenarios started running through his head. _Cindi? Her sisters? The kids?!_

As soon as she had seen him, she'd reached up and wiped her face. "Shit, Aaron. I didn't hear you come in."

"What's wrong?" he asked as his own eyes watered.

She shook her head and wiped her face again. "Nothing."

His brows furrowed. "Those tears aren't 'nothing', Kahlan. What's wrong?" he asked as he scooted even closer to her.

She put a hand on his chest. "No, seriously, it's just me being stupid. There's nothing wrong."

The confusion showed on his face. "Then why are you crying?" She hid her face behind a hand and he could tell she started to cry again. He stood up and pulled her to him making Muffin jump down and head up to Joey's room. He squeezed her. "Babe! Talk to me, please!"

She shook her head against his chest. "It's dumb!"

He pulled back and took her face in gentle hands. "Nothing you could ever do is dumb, Kahlan. Now tell me why you are crying."

She licked her lips as she sniffed. "I was just petting Muffin while I was reading. . ." She shook her head again. "And then I got to thinking about Kid, and. . ." She threw her hands up in frustration. "And then I just started bawling."

He pulled her back to him. "Oh, Babe!" She started sobbing again, and he rubbed soothing circles on her back.

"I don't cry like this!"

"I know," he agreed because she had never been overly emotional like a lot of women.

"My God, Kid's been dead for almost thirty years!"

"I know."

She pulled back and looked him in the face. "What the hell is wrong with me, Aaron?"

"I don't know, but we are going to find out," he assured her and pulled her back to him. While it pained him to see her like that, he was relieved that she finally acknowledged that something wasn't right.

She wrapped her arms around him and held on so tightly, he had to wonder if she was a little afraid and that scared him. _Please, God, please don't let it be anything bad!_ And with that thought, every horrible thing that could be wrong with her flooded into his mind, and he held her just as tightly as tears silently dripped down his cheeks.

After several long minutes, she sniffed and started to pull away from him and he quickly wiped his face. He didn't think it would help her to see that he was scared. She wiped her face and then looked up at him. "I'm going to bed. I'm tired."

He nodded. "Yep. Me, too."

"You need to eat, Aaron."

He shook his head. "No. We grabbed something before we got on the jet," he lied, not wanting to leave her side.

She studied him for a moment and then reached over and turned off her Darth Vader desk lamp. "Then let's go."

He took her hand and led the way. Once they got into the bedroom, he gave her a smile. "So do I stink? Do I need to take a shower?" He didn't think he did after spending most of the day in the police station and not doing anything physical.

She grinned. "You smell amazing to me."

He chuckled and stripped down to his boxers as she climbed into bed. He climbed in and held up his arm so she could get into her spot. She nestled up against him and he wrapped his arm around her and leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Night, Babe. I love you."

"I love you, too, Hun," she told him and then sighed heavily.

He reached up with his other hand and started running his fingers through her hair knowing that relaxed her. _We'll get this figured out, Babe. _ Within a few minutes, she was out. He squeezed her. _You're going to be ok, Babe, because I couldn't handle it if you're not!_

XXX

The next morning, Hotch awoke to an empty bed and that brought a little smile to his face. When he got downstairs, though, his smile faded as he saw how depressed Kahlan looked; she was rising off the kids' breakfast dishes and she looked absolutely miserable. He took a deep breath and went to her. "Morning, Babe," he tried cheerfully as he leaned in a kissed her cheek.

"Morning."

He mentally winced. "Do you have anything exciting going on at work today?" he asked as he filled his mug with coffee.

She shook her head as she put the dishes in the dishwasher. "Just going to the sniper range."

His heart sank. That usually made her happy because he knew she loved showing off her talent to the cocky young agents who assumed they were better than her because she was a woman. He ran a hand across the back of his neck. "If I don't get a case, you want to go out to dinner?"

"Yeah!" Jack yelled as he came into the kitchen. "We haven't gone to Paisano's in a while!" Pasiano's was their favorite pizza parlor.

Hotch looked at him and couldn't help but chuckle. "We'll see. Maybe I was asking your mother out on a date."

Jack ducked his head sheepishly. "Oh, sorry."

Kahlan closed the dishwasher and put her arm around Jack's shoulders. "I think Paisano's is a great idea." Jack beamed.

Hotch shook his head. "Then that's what we'll do if I don't get a case."

Jack did a fist pump and then leaned up and kissed Kahlan on the cheek. "I gotta go."

She grabbed him in a hug. "Yep. Have a great day at school."

Wyatt came in and gave Hotch a hug. "Less than a month left!"

"Yeah, you better enjoy it, too, because once you're an adult you don't get summers off," Hotch told him.

Wyatt laughed as he and Jack switched parents and gave kisses and hugs. Wyatt looked at Jack as they made their way to the door. "That's a good argument for being a teacher."

Jack laughed as he shook his head and they were gone.

Hotch shook his head. "He still hasn't decided what he wants to do."

Kahlan shrugged. "He has plenty of time to decide that."

Hotch huffed. "I can't believe they're almost in high school."

"Jesus, Aaron, they still have a year of middle school left."

"Yeah, but it's getting close," Hotch offered with a look that told her exactly how much he didn't like the idea of it.

Kahlan winced. "Don't remind me."

They both sighed heavily and then looked at each other and laughed. Joey came into the kitchen with a smile. "Did someone say Paisano's?"

Kahlan giggled, and Hotch shook his head. "Jesus, you both have supersonic hearing!"

Kahlan and Joey shared a grin and Kahlan winked at her and that made Joey giggle.

XXX

Later that morning, Rossi walked into Hotch's office right as Hotch slammed his laptop shut with disgust written all over his face. Rossi sat down. "Ut-oh. What's that about?"

Hotch shook his head. "I was doing a little research." He got up and went to his window.

Rossi could see his eyes glistening as Hotch tried to pretend to be looking at the scenery, and he winced. "On Kahlan," he led trying to get Hotch to talk to him.

Hotch nodded. "There are too many possibilities, and a lot of them are really scary, Dave."

Rossi got up and put a supportive hand on Hotch's shoulder. "Don't jump to conclusions, Aaron. That will drive you crazy, and you know it. Wait until she goes and gets the results before you cause yourself to have a heart attack."

Hotch sniffed, wiped a stray tear, and then nodded. "You're right."

Rossi pat his back and then went back to his seat. Hotch took a deep breath and then went back to his. "She was crying when I got home last night."

Rossi winced. He knew nothing could have happened, Hotch would have called him or he would have found out through Cindi or one of the other girls. He inhaled deeply and then let it out slowly. "And that made her realize something's wrong."

Hotch nodded. "It scared the shit out of me, and then to find out it was because she was missing her childhood cat," he shook his head and then pinched the bridge of his nose. "Five days can't go by fast enough in my opinion."

XXX

They didn't get a case and Hotch pulled into his driveway right at 5:30. The boys were playing street hockey with some of the neighborhood kids, and Jack was to Hotch's door before he even got it open. He gave his son a smile. "Hey, Buddy."

Jack fixed him with a serious look. "You don't want to go in there."

Hotch studied him for a second and then looked toward the house. "Why?"

Jack took a deep breath and leaned in close. "Mom's really mad."

"Why? What happened?"

Jack shrugged. "I don't know. She was that way when we got home."

Hotch took a deep breath. "Alright. Thanks for the warning. I'll go see if I can figure out what's going on."

Jack gave him a sympathetic look. "Be careful."

"Where's Joe?" Hotch asked before Jack could go back to his friends.

Jack chuckled. "At Steph's. She couldn't even get Mom in a better mood."

Hotch winced. Joey usually always had the uncanny ability to put Kahlan in a good mood. Hotch stood up tall and squared his shoulders. "Well, I'm going in."

Jack shook his head. "Good luck. You're going to need it." Hotch gave him a look. Jack looked towards the door and then back to his father. "You might want to put your vest on."

"Shut up, Jack," Hotch told him and then Jack ran back to his game as he laughed.

Hotch's feet moved slowly, relunctantly, like a man on death row going towards the electric chair. He paused on the porch, though, and took out his phone. He text Chuck. 'Kahlan's mad. Did anything happen today that I need to be aware of?'

'She was that way since lunch! And, no, I don't know why. I spent the rest of the day avoiding her,' Chuck text back almost instantly.

Hotch huffed. 'Thanks, Chuck!' _You chicken!_

'Sorry!'

Hotch shook his head as he put his phone back in his pocket and opened the door. He thought for a second about closing it again as soon as he heard Kahlan ranting and raving in her den. He swallowed hard. _Just get your ass in there, Hotchner! You've faced down some of the world's worse serial killers; you can face your own wife!_ He took a deep breath and took a step in.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Hotch bit his lip as he stared at the half closed door of his wife's den.

"Fucking piece of shit!" Kahlan's scream echoed through the house.

He cringed as he ran a hand through his hair. _She doesn't know you're home yet, you could go play with the boys, _a little voice in his head suggested. He shook his head. He wasn't sure what voice that was, but he didn't like the way it made him want to run and hide from his own wife. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open slowly.

Kahlan was standing behind her desk, and her back was to him, but her right hand raised and balled into a fist, and he could tell she wanted to hit something. _Maybe I should wait a few minutes._

Before he could decide, Kahlan turned to him. "Aaron!"

"Hey, Babe," he tired as he moved into her den fully.

"Here! Take this!" she demanded as she picked up her printer and shoved it to his chest. He grabbed it and held it close. She fixed it with a look that would have made it die a thousand deaths had it actually been alive. "Take it before I throw it out the damn window!"

"Ok," he told as he eyed the device and then looked at her. "Why?"

She huffed. "Because the son of bitch is broken!"

He saw the plug end dangling on the floor, and bit his lip. "Here, let me see if I can get it to work," he suggested as he sat it down in its place on the bookshelf behind her desk. He reached down and plugged it back in and then turned it on. He turned to her. "Try it now."

Her eyes narrowed, but she clicked the button on her mouse. Sure enough, the printer started.

Hotch grinned for a second and then choked it back and cleared his throat when Kahlan fixed him with a deadly look.

"It was plugged in!" she insisted. "That was the first thing I checked!"

He quickly nodded. "I'm sure it was. Maybe it just needed to be reset or something."

She took a long, slow, deep breath.

He watched the storm clouds leave her eyes as her shoulders relaxed and he took a step closer to her. "Everything alright, now?"

She flopped down into her chair. "Yes," she told him as she ducked her head. "It's just that I've been working on that damn report all day and when the printer wouldn't. . ."

He pulled her up into a hug. "I understand."

She sighed and leaned in close to him. "I'm sorry."

He pulled back to look her in the face and gave her a grin. "I think it's the printer you need to apologize to. It was its life you threatened."

She giggled. "Then it should thank you for saving it."

"Oh it did. Didn't you hear the way it beeped when I turned it on?"

She laughed.

"We still going out to eat?" he asked her as his hands moved to her waist.

She nodded. "I hope so because I didn't take anything out."

He chuckled. "Then I'll get the boys in. You need to call Steph's and have Joey come home."

She ducked her head again. "Yeah, they all split pretty quickly."

He chuckled. _Do you blame them? _"Come on. I'm hungry."

She ran a hand through her hair. "And I could use a beer."

He moved towards the front door. _More like five or six. . ._

XXX

Once they were sitting down and eating, Hotch put two big pieces of pizza on Kahlan's plate and slid it to her. She raised her brows at him, but he gave her a smirk that told her not to argue. She huffed, but she picked up a piece and started eating it. When he shoved the basket of garlic knots toward her, she huffed again and shook her head.

"Play a game of pool with me, Mommy?" Joey asked as she grabbed some quarters from the pile Hotch had put on the table.

"After she eats," Hotch put in quickly.

Kahlan gave him a look and then pouted as she sank back into her chair.

Jack and Wyatt shared a grin as they ate their pizza.

"Then you play me, Daddy," Joey suggested with puppy dog eyes.

He smiled. "Sure, Angel. Go rack them up."

As soon as Hotch's back was turned as he headed towards the pool table, Kahlan moved her partially eaten piece of pizza to Wyatt's plate and quickly picked up her other piece as Hotch turned back towards them. Wyatt and Jack didn't let on at all, either. After Hotch had made a few shots, he smiled when he saw Kahlan pick up a knot and take a bite, but as soon as he turned, she ripped it in half and handed half of it to Jack. Jack stuffed it into his mouth before Hotch turned back to them.

After Hotch's game, he went back to the table and Kahlan leaned back in her seat as she groaned. "I couldn't eat another thing."

Hotch smiled. "It's good to see you eat a decent sized meal. You need to gain weight," he told her and then picked up a piece of pizza.

She nodded. "I know."

When Joey called to Hotch and said she was ready for him again, he leaned over and kissed Kahlan's cheek before he went back to his daughter.

Kahlan giggled as she watched him walk away and then slipped a five dollar bill to both Wyatt and Jack. "Thanks, guys."

They both laughed and then went to play games as she picked up her beer and relaxed as she watched her family playing around her.

XXX

The next day, Hotch got a case that took him out to Oregon. He sighed to himself as they went over everything on the jet. They were going to help catch a spree killer who had hit twice already which resulted in seven dead and nine wounded, and Hotch hoped that they caught him quickly. While he wanted to stop the unsub from killing anyone else, he really hoped that he was home in time for Kahlan's doctor's appointment. When it came to spree killers, they were either caught quickly or it took them forever; there never seemed to be a happy medium. He shook his head and concentrated on the case. They didn't have a whole lot to go on, the locals weren't even positive the two shooting were even connected. The only thing that thing they knew for sure was that the same caliber automatic rifle was used in both shootings, and both incidents were a mix of jumbled witness accounts. Hotch took a deep breath. _This case already sucks!_

XXX

As it was, it only took them a day to build the profile, but then it took them another two days to hunt the unsub down. Hotch sighed as he watched Morgan and JJ interrogating the man. He knew he was never going to get home in time for his wife's appointment, and he prayed that she was honest and open with the doctor.

Rossi picked up on Hotch's mood and put a supportive hand on Hotch's back. "She'll tell them everything. She wants to know what's going on, too."

Hotch nodded.

Rossi chuckled. "And if not, don't worry about it."

Hotch's head snapped to him. "Don't worry about it?"

Rossi smiled. "Nope, cause I have Donna going with her and she knows all about everything."

A smile worked its way onto Hotch face. "Have I told you how much I love you lately?" He knew beyond a doubt that Donna would take care of things since he couldn't.

"Yeah, but it's still nice to hear it," Rossi told him and then gave him a fatherly squeeze.

XXX

When Kahlan's appointment time came, Hotch text her. 'Good luck!'

'And who do I have to thank for making my sister show up?'

He winced. Even through texting he could hear her tone. 'Dave did it,' he told her quickly to save himself. _And it's the truth._

'Well, I guess that's a good thing because I really didn't want to consider that you didn't trust me.'

He cringed. 'Dave's just worried about you,' he tried.

'I know. Tell him I love him. I gotta go.'

'Yep. Love you!'

'Love you, too, Hun,' she told him and then he put his phone away as he took a deep breath. _Please, God, please let it be something easy._

XXX

Hotch got more and more agitated with each passing hour. He was glad the case was basically over because he couldn't even concentrate with as worried as he was getting. Rossi sensed it and made him take a walk outside with him and took him to the nearest coffee shop. "They're taking a while because they are being thorough, Aaron."

Hotch licked his lips and nodded. "I know."

"You know she'll let you know as soon as she's done."

Hotch took a sip of his coffee. "Unless it's bad news. She wouldn't share that with me on the phone."

Rossi nodded. "True, but she would still tell you when she's done."

Hotch sat back and took a deep breath. "What if it's. . ."

"Don't! Don't go there, Aaron!" Rossi insisted as he put a hand on Hotch's arm. Hotch cringed and it was obvious to Rossi that he already had. "I swear, Aaron!"

Hotch flinched when his phone vibrated. He struggled to get it out of his pocket as quickly as he could and almost dropped it. Rossi bit back the chuckle that wanted to escape at seeing Hotch so unglued. Hotch stared at his phone in his hand and took a deep breath. Rossi wasn't sure if it was a text or a call, so he leaned over and saw that Kahlan was trying to call her husband. "You need me to answer it?"

Hotch snapped out of whatever had him and touched the screen. "Hey, Babe."

"Hey, Hun. Sorry it took so long. Dr. Miller had an emergency and didn't even get to me until about an hour late, but I waited because I knew you would want me to."

Hotch took a deep breath. "Good. What did she say?"

"Not a whole lot. She couldn't see any obvious problems, so she ran a bunch of tests."

"Oh," Hotch said as his brows furrowed.

"And, of course, I don't know the results yet."

He cringed. "So we have to wait?"

"Sorry, Aaron. I know that doesn't make you feel any better."

"No! At least she didn't find anything today. That's good news, right?"

She huffed. "I guess."

"What?"

"I was kind of hoping it was something obvious that she could fix in a hurry, if you know what I mean."

He licked his lips. "Yeah. I know exactly what you mean." He knew it was probably just as hard on her if not harder than it had been on him. "So when do you find out the results?"

"She set me up an appointment for Tuesday. All of the tests should be done by then."

"Alright. She didn't give you any theories or anything?" he tried hoping the doctor had given some clue. When Kahlan hesitated, Hotch's chest tightened. "Babe?"

"She brought up a couple different things, but she wouldn't go into any real details or anything because she didn't want to give me any false information or anything without knowing for sure."

Hotch took a deep breath. "And those things weren't too good, were they?"

"We'll talk more about it once you're home, Hun."

Hotch hid his face behind a hand.

"Aaron? Nothing is sure until the tests tell us exactly what's going on. Don't go there in that head of yours!"

"Too late," he muttered.

"Let me speak to Dave," she told him.

"How do you know I'm with Dave?"

She giggled. "I bet he hasn't left your side all day."

He chuckled in spite of the horrible thoughts in his head and handed Rossi the phone. Rossi accepted it with raised brows wondering why he was being pulled into it. "Hey, Kiddo."

"Hey, Dave. First of all, Donna almost kicked my ass when she got here for me not involving her to begin with."

He winced. "Sorry, but I didn't want you to go alone."

She giggled. "It's fine, but I didn't really find out anything today. Are you all almost done?"

"We should be headed back late tonight or first thing in the morning."

"Good. Keep an eye on him for me, please."

He smiled. "You know I always do."

She chuckled. "I know, and I love you for it. I'll see you later. Let me have Aaron again."

"Alright. Take it easy and we'll see you when we get home," he told her and then handed the phone back to Hotch.

"Text me when you guys are on your way back," she instructed.

"I will."

"I'd say call me tonight when you're done if you're not heading back, but that will be way too late my time!"

He chuckled. "Yeah."

"Aaron!"

"What?"

"Please try not to worry too much, for me? I don't want to think about you sitting in your room and worry keeping you from sleep."

He took a deep breath. "I'll try."

"Ok. I love you."

"I love you, too, Babe. Give the kids a kiss for me."

"I will," she told him and ended the call.

He sunk down into his seat as he put his phone away.

"Positive thoughts, Aaron! You know she wouldn't want you to jinx it."

Hotch's head snapped up. "Shit! You're right! She'd kicked my ass!"

Rossi chuckled. "Yep!"

Hotch took another deep breath and sat up. "No sense letting it bother me until it has to, right?"

Rossi smiled at him proudly. "That's right!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The BAU didn't leave Oregon until the next morning, and the weather had gotten worse the closer they got to home. The turbulence in the jet had Rossi on edge, and Hotch tried joking with him to get his mind off of it, but he silently hoped that the weather wasn't an omen for his wife's health. After getting the case files done, Hotch made it a point to leave his office right at five, so he could get home and spend some time with his family. While Kahlan had sounded alright on the phone, he needed to see her with his own eyes to truly make sure she was.

He cringed at how hard it was raining as he made his way towards his house, and when thunder vibrated through him, he shook his head. They hadn't had that bad of a storm in a while, but he knew spring storms could be nasty. Lightning cracked across the sky and he had to blink several times to clear his vision. When he finally pulled into his driveway, he took a deep breath and hit the garage button. Normally he didn't worry about parking in the garage, but with as hard as it was raining, he knew he'd get soaked no matter how fast he ran to the house. He pulled his car in and as soon as he hit the button to close it, the power went out. _Damn it!_ He got out of his car and looked back towards the driveway. He shook his head at the river of water draining out of the downspout.

This head snapped to the house door opening and Joey ran out and jumped into his arms. "Hey, Daddy!" she exclaimed as she hugged his neck.

"Hey, Angel. I missed you."

"We missed you, too. Come on. We're playing games," she told him as she wiggled out of his arms and down to the floor.

"Yeah, what are you playing?"

She giggled. "We were playing Monopoly, but now we're playing Sorry." She giggled again as she pulled him through the door. "And I'm winning."

He shook his head as he smiled. "You always win at Sorry."

She giggled a giggle that almost rivaled her mother's evil giggle and his heart skipped a beat. "I know," she told him slyly.

He shook his head again. Kahlan was in the process of lighting candles when she stopped and gave him a hug. "Glad you made it home. They're calling for flash floods."

"I believe it," Hotch told her as he sat his briefcase down. "The power went before I got the garage door shut."

She laughed. "It's been blinking on and off for the last hour. You're lucky you were able to get in there."

He smiled. "I didn't want to take a shower with my clothes on."

Wyatt laughed at that. "We wanted to go out and play in it, but Mom wouldn't let us."

Hotch gave him a look of horror. "I guess not with it lightning."

Wyatt winced as if he hadn't thought about that, and Kahlan laughed.

XXX

After playing another round of Sorry to let Hotch join them, Kahlan and Hotch went to the kitchen to fix dinner. "It's a good thing we have a gas stove or we'd be eating pudding," Kahlan joked as she stirred the noodles.

Hotch laughed. "I think the kids would actually like that."

Kahlan shook her head. "Probably. Get the garlic bread out of the freezer, please."

Hotch moved to the freezer and then got a baking sheet out of the cabinet. He took a deep breath and studied his wife as he placed the bread on the pan. He hadn't been able to judge what the doctor had told her while they were playing because he didn't want to study her in front of the kids. She felt him looking, though, and she gave him a look. "Not now, Aaron."

He nodded. "Alright."

She turned and put a hand on his chest. "After the kids go to bed."

He nodded and then leaned down and kissed her on the end of her nose which made her giggle.

XXX

As they were eating, Hotch grabbed Kahlan's hand under the table and leaned in close to her ear. "If the kids weren't at the table with us, this would be really romantic," he whispered with a little grin.

She smiled. "You've always liked eating by candlelight," she whispered back as she leaned her shoulder into his.

He inhaled and smiled. "Yep."

"Do we need to leave?" Jack asked them with a grin.

"Shut up, Jack," Hotch told him as he put his hand back on the table and took a bite of his spaghetti.

Joey giggled as she looked back and forth between her parents. "Mommy and Daddy sitting in tree. . ."

"Shut up, Joe," Kahlan told her as she threw a piece of her garlic bread at her, and they all laughed.

XXX

After tucking the kids in, Hotch went to the family room. Kahlan had her iPod playing softly on the arm of the couch beside her and was just sitting there staring into space. Hotch swallowed and sat down beside her. She snapped back and gave him a small smile. He took a deep breath, grabbed her hand and looked at her waiting for her to start.

She bit her lip. "You know what? I don't think I want to talk about the doctor said." Hotch went to open his mouth, but Kahlan put a finger to his lips to silence him. "It was just speculation, Aaron. Why not wait until we know something for sure? There's no sense in us going crazy over possibilities."

He ran a hand over his jaw as he considered it.

"Tell me you haven't already looked some things up?"

He ducked his head a little. "Maybe."

"And some of them were pretty bad, weren't they?"

He nodded.

"And it's already killing you. Let's just let it go. Please."

He studied her and knew she didn't want to discuss it as if talking about the possibilities would make them real. He inhaled slowly and then gave her a small smile. "Alright."

"I'm sure once we know, we'll have plenty to discuss, but let's just act like, right now, like there's nothing to worry about."

He could see the fear in her eyes and his chest tightened, but he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Anything for my lady."

She pulled him to her side and held him there. "I so love being your lady."

He smiled and scooted in as close as he could. "And I love being your man."

XXX

Sometime in the middle of the night, Hotch woke up to Kahlan moving off of him. He squinted in the darkness to try and see what was going on, but the power was still out and he didn't even have the light of the alarm clock to help. As he came fully awake, he realized his shirt was soaked. _What the hell?_ He ran a hand down his face and sat up. His shirt was stuck to him so he peeled it off and threw it onto the floor. _It's not that damn hot in here._ He shook his head and moved to snuggle up against Kahlan. As soon as he got close, he realized she was soaked. _Jesus!_ He reached up and felt her back. _Oh my God, she's burning up._ He got up, grabbed the flashlight he had put on the nightstand, and headed to the bathroom. After filling a glass with some water and grabbing some Tylenol, he headed back to his wife.

He nudged her. "Kahlan?" She moaned and shooed him away with a hand unconsciously. He shook his head. "Babe!" he called a little louder and shook her shoulder.

She sat up. "What?!" she asked as she looked around with frantic eyes.

"It's alright!" he assured her to try and get her to relax. She ran a hand through her hair as she looked at him questioningly. He held out the pills and the water, "Here, take these," he ordered.

She looked at his hands and then looked him in the eyes and then busted out laughing.

"What?" he asked as he looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

"When I say I don't have a headache, are you going to say 'good, then let's make love?"

"What?" His face showed his confusion and then it finally hit him what she meant. "No!"

"Then why are you waking me up in the middle of the night and offering me pills? And why are you half naked?"

"You have a fever. You're so hot you're sweating through both of our clothes." She swallowed and then felt her shirt. Her face showed her confusion and he held out the items again. "You feeling alright?"

"If I had a fever, it must have broke." She took a deep breath. "I feel fine."

He eyed her for a couple moments and then reached up and put the back of his hand on her cheek. She didn't really feel like she had a fever so he set the glass and pills on her nightstand. "You sure?"

She nodded as she got up. He shined the flashlight on her dresser so she could get some more pajamas out. She turned to him as she pulled on another shirt. "I'm sorry I woke you up."

He shook his head. "It's fine. I can't believe the power hasn't come back on yet," he told her as he moved back to his side of the bed with a yawn.

"God, I hope it's back on by morning," she told him as she crawled in beside him and then groaned. "Damn. Even the sheets are wet."

He pushed on her. "Then let's sleep on your side." She nodded and scooted over. Once she was snuggled up against him, he felt her forehead one more time.

"I'm fine, Aaron."

_You better be! _He leaned down and kissed her on the top of her head. "Love you, Babe," he told her and then winced at how damp her hair was.

"I love you, too, Hun."

XXX

The power was back on by morning, and Hotch made his way down stairs with a smile on his face. It was Saturday and unless something pressing came up, the team had the whole weekend off. He found his family at the table eating breakfast, and he leaned down and gave Kahlan's cheek a kiss. "Morning, Babe."

"Morning, Hun," she told him and then got up to get him a cup of coffee.

Her tone bothered him and he looked at the kids questioningly. Wyatt shrugged, Jack shook his head, and Joey sighed to let him know they didn't know what the problem was. He took a deep breath and followed his wife into the kitchen. "Everything alright?"

She took a deep breath as she handed him his mug. "I don't know. . . I just feel. . . I don't know, like blah."

He went to her and put his hand on her forehead as he looked her in the eyes. She looked tired. "Blah' is not very descriptive. Think you could be a little more specific?"

She shrugged. "I don't feel bad per say. I just don't feel good, if you know what I mean."

"Stomach, head?" he tried.

She shrugged again. "All over."

He cringed. "Are you tired?"

She sighed. "Maybe a little."

"I'm sorry I didn't wake up. I should have let you sleep in."

She gave him a smile. "It's fine. We haven't even been up that long."

"Why don't you go back to bed?" he suggested. "We'll keep the noise down."

She smiled. "Maybe later."

He eyed her for a few seconds and then put his coffee on the counter and grabbed her by the waist. "Well, I'm off this weekend unless something serious comes through, so how about you take the weekend off. I'll take care of the kids, the house, and you for a change."

She smiled. "An early Mother's Day?"

He shrugged. "It's hard to say if I'll be home next Sunday or not. You better take it while the taking's good."

She giggled and wrapped her arms around him. "The taking is always good with you."

He chuckled and then pulled back to look her in the face. "So what do you want for dinner tonight?" She went to open her mouth but he spoke first. "Chicken."

She giggled. "You know me so well."

"Yep," he agreed and then leaned down and kissed her. "Now go relax on the couch or something."

She giggled again as he shoved her out of the kitchen ahead of him. "Yes, sir."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The Hotchners spent most of the morning relaxing and watching TV. When Kahlan yawned for the second time, Hotch pushed her off of him where she had been snuggled and pointed to the stairs. "Go take a nap."

She inhaled deeply and ran a hand through her hair. "I think I will," she agreed and then leaned over to give him a kiss.

"Need me to tuck you in?"

She giggled. "I think I'll manage."

He chuckled and she got up and kissed each one of the kids and then turned back to Hotch. "Get me up in a couple hours."

"Yep."

She gave him a smile and he sighed as he watched her walk away. Once she disappeared up the stairs, Hotch gave the kids a grin. "Ready?"

They all jumped up with grins and Hotch took that as a yes.

XXX

The Hotchner's minus Kahlan spent the afternoon shopping. Hotch was never guaranteed to be home at any given time, so he decided to take the kids Mother's Day shopping while he had the chance. They would wait until the Mother's Day to give Kahlan their presents, but Hotch was glad he got to take them shopping. The year before, Donna had to take them. After buying their gifts, they went out for lunch, and he enjoyed the time he got to spend with them. As he looked around the table, his heart swelled. _I don't get enough of this._

Joey reached over and stole one of his fries with a giggle, and Hotch tussled her hair. "Like you don't have your own."

"I told you to get the seasoned fries," Jack told her and then took a drink of his soda.

Wyatt was being a little too quiet and Hotch nudged his shoulder. "What's up, Big Guy?"

Wyatt shook his head and then took a bite of his burger.

"Ut-huh. Out with it, Young Man," Hotch ordered as he fixed him with his stare. Wyatt wiped his mouth and when his eyes watered, Hotch's heart clenched. "What?" Hotch asked as he put his fry down.

Wyatt looked at Jack and then Joey for a few seconds and then back to Hotch. "There's something wrong with Mom, isn't there?"

Hotch swallowed and then looked at all of the kids. He could tell they were all wondering the same thing and he figured they had already discussed it among themselves. He took a deep breath. "I don't know," he started.

Jack threw his napkin down in disgust. "Don't even try that, Dad!"

Hotch held up his hands. "No seriously, guys. She has gone to the doctor, but they had to run some tests, and we haven't gotten the results back. The doctor doesn't even know what's going on yet." They all studied him and he shifted in his seat. _Now I know what one of our unsubs feels like._

Wyatt licked his lips. "When do you find out?"

"Tuesday," Hotch told them.

Jack ran a hand through his hair and fixed his father with a look that would have made Haley proud. "And you will be honest with us when you find out what it is?"

Joey and Wyatt's gazes became just as hard as Jack's and Hotch knew they wouldn't accept any answer but 'yes', so he nodded. "We've never hid things from you all just to be hiding them, you all know that."

"But we need to know, so we can help," Joey insisted.

Hotch nodded his agreement. "Yes. I promise you will be told everything that we can tell you."

Wyatt huffed. "That doesn't promise anything!"

Hotch ran a hand across the back of his neck. He hadn't felt that ganged up on since he was a prosecutor. He took a deep breath. "I will talk to your mother," he started and they all made to argue so he held up his hand to silence them. "It's not just my place to share, but I promise to try and let you all know everything. Ok? Cut me some slack on this, guys. We don't even know what's going on yet."

The kids shared looks and then looked at him. Wyatt picked up his burger. "We'll let you slide. . ."

"For now," Jack finished for him.

Hotch took a deep breath as he studied his kids again. "So can we go back to enjoying our day?"

Joey stole another fry from him. "Yep. Mommy's going to so surprised!"

Hotch nodded and picked his burger up. "Yep."

After lunch, they went to the grocery store to get things for dinner. Once they were back home, Hotch put the groceries away as the kids wrapped their gifts and them hid them in their rooms so Kahlan wouldn't find them, and then they all worked on getting dinner ready.

XXX

Hotch walked into his bedroom and shivered. _Jesus! You have the air conditioner on already? _He shook his head and went and sat on the side of the bed. He smiled as he looked down at the love of his life. He reached up and moved the hair out of her face. Her brows furrowed and she moaned. He chuckled and leaned down and whispered into her ear. "Mrs. Hotchner. Paging Mrs. Hotchner."

She bolted up. "Save the cows!"

He flinched back because he wasn't expecting her to react like that. "What?"

She flinched because she hadn't realized he was there. "What?"

"What the hell were you dreaming about?"

She ran a hand down her face and then shrugged. "I don't know. I don't even think I was, why?"

He chuckled and then scooted closer to her. "Because you said, 'save the cows'."

Her face showed her disbelief. "Save the cows? As in 'moo' cows?"

He chuckled again. "That's what it sounded like. You dreaming about South Dakota?"

She ran a hand through her hair and then laughed. "That would be the only place I've lived where cows were so prevalent. God knows. My dreams have taken a definite turn towards strange, that's for sure." She shook her head. "Although, there was one time in Scotland. . . those Highland cows with their long curly hair are cute as shit!"

He chuckled as he moved the covers back as she could get out. "Come on. Dinner's done."

Her eyes squinted and then she turned towards the alarm clock. She shook her head as she got up. "Damn. Why did you let me sleep so long?"

He pulled her into a hug. "Apparently you needed it."

She shivered and leaned in closer to him. "Why did you turn on the AC already? Are you trying to freeze me?"

He pulled back and looked her in the face. "I didn't turn it on."

Her brows furrowed and then she noticed the shirt she had on earlier in a heap on the floor. She pulled away from Hotch and went to it. It was damp and she knew she had woken up sweating and had turned the AC on, but it bothered her that she didn't remember doing it. She shook her head as she sighed.

"Apparently you were running another fever," Hotch offered as he cringed.

She shrugged. "Maybe."

Hotch studied her and then pulled her back to him. "Come on. You need to eat."

She shook her head. "I'm not really hungry."

He drooped. "You haven't eaten anything all day."

She gave him a cocky look. "Wow, the tables have turned."

He took a step back from her and fixed her with his stare. "So you've lost weight because you haven't been eating, not because of something health wise causing it."

She took a deep breath. "I haven't been hungry. You of all people should understand that."

He shook his head. He knew stress played a big part in his appetite, but Kahlan was always hungry. He took a deep breath. "Well, at least try to eat something. The kids worked really hard on dinner."

She gave him a smile. "Then I will eat until I bust."

He pulled her back to him. "You never know, you might actually want to eat what we've fixed."

She pulled back and looked him in the eyes. "Oh yeah? Jack fix his chicken pasta?"

He chuckled as he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. "Nope."

"Then what kind of chicken did you make?" she asked as they headed down the stairs.

He just smiled and took her to the table. He motioned for her to sit down and then Joey brought her a cup of coffee as Jack and Wyatt followed closely behind carrying a bowl of mashed potatoes and a bowl of broccoli. Joey went back into the kitchen and came back with gravy. Kahlan smiled. "Well, I like what I see so far."

The kids sat down with grins and then Hotch came into the dining room carrying a platter of chicken. Kahlan's eyes went wide. "Fried Chicken?" she asked and snatched a piece as soon as Hotch sat it on the table. She took a bite and then looked at her family. "Did you all get Grandma to make me chicken?"

Hotch put a hand to his chest. "You wound me."

She studied him for a second and then looked at her kids. Joey giggled and she looked back at her husband. "You all made this? It taste's just like Mom's. It's amazing!"

They all beamed and Hotch ducked his head a little. "Well, we did have Grandma's help."

"Yeah, she talked us through it on Skype!" Joey told her proudly.

Kahlan shook her head at them all. "You guys are the best, you know that?"

"Yes, yes we are," Hotch agreed and then started fixing Joey's plate.

Kahlan smiled as she looked at all of them slowly, shook her head one more time, and then filled her own plate.

XXX

Kahlan ended up eating enough that Hotch was happy, and the rest of the evening was spent playing games and watching TV. After the kids went to bed, Hotch curled up with Kahlan on the couch. After a while, Kahlan yawned. "I can't believe after sleeping most of the day away that I'm actually tired again. I don't understand it. It's like I don't have any energy."

Hotch ran his fingers through her hair. "Well, then, let's go to bed."

She nodded and then got up, and he followed her up after shutting off the TV and taking their cups to the sink. Once they were nestled together in bed, Hotch reached over and shut off the light. He leaned down and kissed her head. "Night, Babe. I love you."

"I love you, too, Hun."

XXX

A shiver halfway woke Hotch up. Sleepy hands searched for the blanket, but they couldn't find them. He ran a hand down his face and tried to wake himself up enough to actually think. He sat up and looked around, and Kahlan was curled into a ball on her side of the bed and the blankets had apparently fallen off the bottom of the bed. He shook his head and got up. After the storm, the weather had stayed cool, and they had opened the bedroom windows to let in some fresh air. He rubbed his arms vigorously to try to warm them back up as he made his way to the pile of blankets on the floor. He figured Kahlan had gotten hot and kicked them off the bed, so he grabbed them and spread them out with a snap into the air to let them fall down on the bed. As soon as the blankets covered Kahlan, she grabbed them and wrapped herself up in them. Hotch shook his head. _I want some of them, too, Babe._ He tried to pull some of them back from her, but she wasn't budging. He sighed and went to the linen closet to grab an extra blanket and then laid down and covered himself up with it as he scooted closer to his wife. He sighed again as he closed his eyes. _Is a night of uninterrupted sleep it too much to ask for?_

XXX

Hotch awoke the next morning to an empty bed. He got up, went to the restroom, and then went in search of his family. It was already after nine, and he couldn't believe he'd slept that long. His brows furrowed as he made his way downstairs because the house was way too quiet. He looked around once he got to the bottom and frowned even deeper. His family wasn't anywhere in sight, even the dogs were gone. _What the hell?_ He made his way to the coffee pot for some much needed caffeine, and then he saw the note. 'Went to the park. Be back before lunch, Love K and K.'

He huffed. _You could have invited me._ Then he shook his head and smiled. _Well, apparently Kahlan's feeling better._ He took a long drink and then went up to get dressed. Muffin met him at his bedroom door and he reached down and picked her up and pet her while he made his way back downstairs. "I know how you feel, Girl. It sucks being left out, doesn't it?" She meowed and he chuckled. "I'd take you to the park, but I don't think you'd like it," he told her as he sat her down in the chair closest to the backdoor because the sun was shining on it. She laid down and curled herself up and gave him a look that said 'thank you.' He pet her one more time as he chuckled and then made his way to the door.

He smiled as he got close to the park. He could see his whole family playing soccer together, apparently boys against the girls. He chuckled when Joey stole the ball from Jack and passed it to her mother and Kahlan kicked it. She had obviously made it to whatever they were considering the goal with the way Joey cheered. He just stood there and watched them for a few minutes enjoying the sight of his happy family. Kahlan turned and noticed him and he smiled at her. She walked over to him after she threw the ball to Wyatt. "So you decided to wake up, huh?"

He put his hands on her waist. "You could have woken me up. I would have come with you."

She giggled. "Yeah? Tell that to your daughter would tried for over five minutes to get you to wake up. All you did was growl at her and then rolled over, so we decided to let you sleep."

His brows furrowed. "Really? You tried to wake me up?"

She laughed. "Joe wanted to try ice water, but I wouldn't let her."

He took a deep breath. "Thank you for that."

She giggled and then pulled him towards the kids. "Come on, the boys could use your help. They're losing ten to three."

He huffed. "They're just being nice."

She shoved him. "Oh yeah? I bet that Joey and I still win even with you helping them?"

He smirked. "I guess so with them being already down by seven. What's it take to win, eleven?"

She gave him a sly look. "We'll start over with a clean slate."

He licked his lips and then looked at the boys. They were both sweating and breathing a little heavily and he could tell the girls had been hard on them, but they both nodded to let him know they were up for the challenge. He turned back to his wife. "And what do we get if we win?"

Kahlan pursed her lips as she thought about it and then smiled. "Winner gets to pick where we go for dinner."

Hotch looked at the boys and they smiled to let him know they liked the terms. "Deal," Hotch told her and they shook to seal the deal.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The rest of Sunday and Monday morning went by without a hitch, and Hotch started thinking that maybe things weren't as bad as he had let himself believe. As he sat in his office catching up on paperwork, he silently hoped they didn't get a case so he could go with Kahlan to the doctor's the next day, but he knew his chances weren't good with having the whole weekend off already. He sighed. _Maybe I'll sit one out if we do get one. Some things are more important._

XXX

As he was packing up to leave and planning on going to Paxton about taking the next afternoon off, his phone vibrated. He took it out and cringed. _No!_ He shook his head and went in search of his team and hoped none of them had left yet. Once they were all in the conference room, Garcia informed them of a pressing case involving two missing young teens in Florida. Hotch's heart sank. He really wanted to go with his wife, but he really knew cases like that had to be handled swiftly and expertly. He looked around the round table. _They're the best. Do they really need me?_

Rossi leaned over and whispered into Hotch's ear. "So call her. Tell her what's going on."

Hotch gave him a look. "You know she wouldn't want me to step out on a case that involves kids," he whispered back.

Rossi shrugged. "Maybe, but if you do it without talking with her about it and she finds out. . ." Hotch gave him a look. "You know she'll find out and you know she'll be mad. Do you really want that to happen with everything else that's going on?"

Hotch sat back in his seat, defeated. He knew Rossi's words were true. When Garcia stopped her presentation, Hotch stood up. "Alright, wheels up in ten. We all know time is of the essence."

They all nodded and went to gather their things. Hotch noticed they were all taking out their phones to let their other halves know that they wouldn't be home. He sighed and took out his own on his way to his office.

He called Kahlan and told her what was going on and also told her how he was considering staying home.

"I don't think so, Aaron!"

"But I really want to go with you," he tried.

"And if something happens to those kids. . . Aaron. You will never forgive yourself and you will always second guess it like if you had been there things might have gone differently. You are not going to put yourself through that, Hun. I'll get Donna to go if you want and you know I will tell you everything once you are home."

He licked his lips. She was right, of course, but he didn't like it.

"Besides. You all might get there and solve this thing and be home in time to go with me."

"Yeah. . ." he started.

"You know you have to go, Aaron."

He swallowed hard and grabbed his go bag. "Alright. I'll call you tonight if I get a chance."

"And if not tonight, as soon as you can. I know."

He chuckled. "Love you."

"I love you, too, Hun. Go find those kids!"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

She giggled and then ended the call. He put his phone away and caught up with Rossi on his way through the glass doors. Rossi gave him a grin and then squeezed his shoulder. "Things will be fine."

Hotch nodded. "I know. Let's go."

XXX

As soon as they hit the ground, Hotch's worries for his wife flew from his mind as he concentrated on the case. Within ten hours, they had found one of the teens. After JJ and Mack got her calmed down enough to give them much needed information, they knew who their unsub was and they started hunting. It took seven more hours to find him, and then Hotch and Morgan another two to break him in interrogation, but he eventually gave up his hiding place and the rest of the team set out and found the young man. He had been beaten and abused, but he was alive.

As they all worked on wrapping everything up, Hotch looked at his watch and sighed. He hadn't realized it had gotten that late, and he knew Kahlan was already at her appointment. He sent up a silent prayer that whatever she found out could be solved without too much trouble. He shook his head and made his mind go back to the case.

XXX

It wasn't long on the jet ride home before most of the team was sound asleep. Not having any sleep since the night before had paid a toll on all of them, but Hotch couldn't get his mind to stop long enough for sleep to take him. He was staring out the window when he felt a nudge on his leg. He turned and smiled at Rossi. He had two cups in his hand and Hotch knew what was in them, so he accepted his with a nod of thanks and Rossi sat down beside him. "Have you heard anything yet?"

Hotch shook his head. "No, but she knows we're on our way back."

Rossi nodded and then took a sip of his scotch. "Have you text Donna? Maybe she'd tell you."

Hotch pursed his lips as he thought about it and then shook his head. "No. I want to hear it from Kahlan."

Rossi nodded. "I understand," he told him and then they both sat in silence the rest of the way as they sipped their drinks, and Hotch silently thanked Rossi for the support.

Once they landed, Hotch told the team that they had the morning off so they could catch up on their sleep, and they all left with grins on their faces. Hotch couldn't bring himself to feel the same way, though, and his chest started to fill with even more worry as he made his way to his car. Rossi looked over his car at Hotch. "Call me if you need me."

Hotch gave him a small smile. "You know it."

Rossi gave him a grin and then they both got in their cars and headed home. Hotch cringed as he thought about it, though. _If it's something serious, he's going to be just as affected because of Cindi._ He sighed. _The whole damn family will be affected._ His hands tightened on the steering wheel. _Whatever it is, we'll get through it! _He allowed himself a glimmer of hope with the thought of everyone coming together like he knew they would if needed._ Everyone will help and we'll all be ok._

XXX

Hotch looked at his watch as he walked towards his front door. It was dinnertime, and he knew he wouldn't be able to talk to Kahlan until after the kids went to bed. He took a deep breath, stood up straight, and squared his shoulders. He knew it wouldn't do anyone any good if the kids picked up on how worried he was. _Why do they have to be so damn smart?_ He shook his head and opened the door.

Sure enough, he found his family at the table. Kahlan jumped up as soon as she heard the door and went to grab Hotch a plate. He met her in the kitchen. She looked at him and frowned. "Aww, you look so tired. Do you want to eat or go take a shower and crawl in bed?"

He took the plate form her. "I'm alright," he told her and then peaked over her shoulder at the table. "Is that meatloaf?" he asked and his stomach growled loudly.

Kahlan's brows rose and then she gave him a serious look. "Aaron Jackson Hotchner! You didn't eat the whole time you were gone, did you?"

He ducked his head a little.

She shook her head. "And you yelled at me?"

He licked his lips. "I haven't lost twelve pounds!"

She huffed and shoved him towards the dining room. "There's also baked potatoes and carrots."

He smiled as they made their way to the table. He mentally shook his head, though, because he couldn't get anything from her on how her appointment went. _I can never read her unless she lets me._

"We saved you the ends, Daddy," Joey told him with a grin.

Hotch looked at Jack. Normally he and Jack fought over the ends. Jack shrugged. "You saved two kids. You deserve them, this time."

Hotch chuckled and filled his plate.

XXX

While Kahlan was starting the dishwasher, the kids cornered Hotch down in the rec room. He held up his hands. "I don't know yet. I haven't had a chance to talk to her."

They all shared looks. "Then I guess it's time we got ready for bed," Jack suggested to his brother and sister.

"You will tell us tomorrow?" Wyatt asked as he shut off the TV.

Hotch licked his lips. "Let me talk to your mother first, please."

Wyatt pursed his lips and then nodded. "Sure, but you know we don't like being kept in the dark."

Hotch pulled him into a hug. "I know," he told him as he released him and grabbed Jack. "Hopefully I don't get a case and we can all sit down tomorrow evening."

Jack nodded and the boys went to their rooms as Hotch picked Joey up and started up the stairs with her. She wiggled out of his arms once they were on the main floor to go tell her mother goodnight, and then Hotch took her upstairs. He sat her down. "Go brush your teeth while I get your book ready."

She shook her head. "You don't have to read to me tonight, Daddy. You need to talk to Mommy." He went to open his mouth, but she pushed him toward the door. "I know it's driving you crazy. Go."

He gave her a smile and then picked her up and gave her a kiss. "I love you, Angel."

"I love you, too, Daddy. See you in the morning."

"Yep," Hotch told her as he put her down and then headed for the stairs. He took a deep breath to try and calm his heart down a little as fear started creeping up from his stomach. _Don't let your imagination run away with you, Hotchner. You're going to find out the truth in a minute._

When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he looked towards the family room expecting Kahlan to be in there but she wasn't. He looked toward the kitchen but all the lights were off. _Where the hell did you go, Babe?_ He went to her den and found it empty, too. He huffed. _What the hell?_ As he made his way back towards the dining room, the front door opened. His brows furrowed when Kahlan came in. "What were you doing?"

She was just as shocked to see him. "Wow, you read to her that quickly?"

He chuckled and went to her. "I guess she wasn't in the mood tonight."

Kahlan studied him. "What do they know?"

He put his hands on her waist. "They figured out something was wrong, and I told them that you found out today. They know we are going to talk."

Kahlan shook her head. "I should have known."

He gave her a little grin. "They're too smart."

"And too observant, just like a certain profiler I know."

His grin grew. "Yep. Apparently you're not the only one passing on skills."

She giggled. "They're going to better than both of us, and I don't know if that makes me proud or scared."

He chuckled. "Be scared. Be very scared." She giggled again but it quickly turned into a heavy sigh, and his heart clenched.

She pulled back from him and grabbed his hand. "Come on. Let's go out on the deck. It's beautiful out tonight."

He nodded and let her lead him. "You want a beer?"

She turned to him with a smile. "That sounds good."

He went to the kitchen and grabbed them both a beer and then found her sitting in on the outdoor loveseat. He twisted hers open and handed it to her and sat down beside her. He figured she wanted to speak outside to circumvent any prying ears inside, and that scared him a little. He took a long drink and then looked at her and waited for her to start as his heart sped up.

She took a long drink and then shook her head. After a few moments she looked him in the eyes. "Well, you can stop worrying. It isn't anything life threatening."

He nodded, unable to trust his voice at that particular moment, as conflicting emotions started to boil within him. Relief was trying to win, but worry over not knowing what the problem was kept it back like a lion tamer with a whip and a stool.

She took another drink and then sighed. After a second or two, and Hotch wanting to shake her and make her say it, she finally sank down into the seat and shook her head as her eyes watered.

He couldn't take it anymore. "You know I love you, Kahlan, but if you don't start talking, I'm going to choke you."

A pathetic half-giggle escaped her. "Apparently I am going through the early stages of menopause."

His breath left him in a rush. "Oh thank God!"

She looked at him with a scrunched up face.

"That's awesome!"

"Awesome?"

He mentally flinched at her tone but he couldn't understand why. "Well, yes! With all of the horrible things that it could have been, this is good news, right?" He couldn't understand why she wasn't as happy with the news as he was.

She huffed as she rolled her eyes.

"Kahlan. It's just a natural part of being a female. All women go through it," he tried still not liking the way she was acting.

"Yeah and we have a period every month, too, but that doesn't mean we have to like it!"

He sat back a little and then ran a hand down his face. "No, of course not, but this means. . ."

"It means I'm getting old!" she half yelled as she stood up and took a few steps away from him.

"You are not old!"

She shook her head. "My ovaries are starting to fail. That sure as shit doesn't mean I'm young!"

"Your what. . . Why is that happe. . ." he stammered thinking he had missed something important and it was starting to scare him even more.

She turned to him. "That's what menopause is, Hun. It's when a woman's ovaries stop producing eggs."

He sank back in relief. "Oh. Sorry, I didn't realize. . ."

She shook her head. "And apparently my hormones are all out of wack and that what's making my body go crazy."

He could tell she didn't like it one bit either, but he summed up enough courage and got up and went to her. "But this is something that can be dealt with, right?"

She huffed. "Yeah, I guess."

He pulled on her shoulder and turned her to him. "You are not old, Kahlan. My God, you're in better shape than most twenty year old women."

She snorted. "And apparently that doesn't matter when it comes to this!"

He licked his lips and ran a hand over the back of his neck. He wanted to say the right thing, to make her feel better about it, but he was at a loss. He decided to switch gears. "So what now?"

She went back to the love seat and flopped down. "There's pills."

He winced. She was never one to take pills. _She can't even take a full course of antibiotics without forgetting them before she's done with them._ He also knew that's why she had started taking the birth control shot because she kept forgetting the pill. She never admitted it, but he suspected that was how Joey happened. He went and sat down beside her. "So you take a pill. That would be better than what you've been going through, right?" he asked as he took her hand in his.

"I guess."

He took a deep breath. "That's really it? That's what's caused all of it?" he asked wanting to make sure there wasn't something else the doctor found.

"Yes. The moodiness, the lack of energy. . ." She shook her head. "I didn't have a fever. Those were night sweats," she finished sarcastically.

He mentally cringed at her tone and he wasn't sure if she was truly getting pissed at what she had found out or if it was her roller coaster mood swings hitting. He took a deep breath. "So, did you pick up the pills?"

She gave him a look that made him shrink back a little. "Yes, Aaron."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

She got up again. "You just don't understand!"

He swallowed hard. "Apparently not, but I'm willing to try if you'd explain it to me."

"I never expected to get old," she started.

Her voice was so quiet Hotch had to strain to hear her. "What?"

She turned back to him. "With my life. . . I never thought I'd reach old age."

He got up and went to her. "You've had to change your mind on that though once you got out, didn't you?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Of course with the kids and you. . . I want to be around as long as I can, but. . ." She shook her head.

His brows furrowed as he tried to figure out what she was getting at. She might as well been speaking one of her foreign languages with the way he wasn't following her. "And we want you to stick around for a very long time, and you will. You are not old, Kahlan."

She appraised him and then shook her head. "Men don't understand. Your body isn't going to go crazy on you! Your reproductive organs will last no matter what, and if you're in shape, you can use them until the day you die."

He licked his lips. "Are you trying to tell me you want to have another baby?"

She pulled away from him, shock written all over her face. "What? No!"

He drooped. "Then what are you trying to say?"

She huffed. "Nothing."

He drooped even further. _Come on, Hotchner. She apparently needs you to say or do something here._

She sighed. "I'm going to take a bath."

He grabbed her elbow to stop her. He opened his mouth, closed it, took a deep breath, and then opened it again. "Are you mad at me?"

She shook her head. "No, Aaron. I'm not mad at you."

He studied her and he didn't think she was, but there was something in her tone that couldn't figure out. He pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. "It's going to be alright, Babe."

She sighed and leaned into him. "I know." After a few moments, she pulled back and looked him in the eyes. "I'm sorry I'm acting strange, but I guess it's the hormones." He started to chuckle but her look choked it off. She pulled away from him completely. "I'm going to take a bath, and you need to get some sleep."

He sighed as he watched her leave. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. _I will never understand women._


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Kahlan was too quiet the next morning, and all the kids were shooting Hotch looks and his look told them not to ask and that he would talk to them later. He could tell they really didn't like it, but they accepted it. As the kids left the table to go get ready, Kahlan eyed him. "Why aren't you dressed yet?"

"Oh. I have the morning off. I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you."

"You should have slept in, you needed it."

He shrugged. "I'm alright."

"Well, I have to be in Langley in an hour, so I have to go in."

He nodded as he stood up and pulled her into a hug. "Go ahead and go if you want. I can get the kids off and traffic is going to be horrible this time of the morning."

She nodded and leaned up and gave him a kiss. "Alright. Text me."

"Yep," he told her as he followed her to the door and then jumped in front of her to open it. "Have a good day, Mrs. Hotchner."

She smiled. "You, too, Mr. Hotchner. I love you."

He kissed her again. "I love you, too, Babe."

He sighed as he watched her get into her car and he watched until she was out of the driveway. He shut the door and turned back to find all three of the kids staring at him. He swallowed. _I should have gone in to work, too._ He licked his lips and gave them a smile. "Are you all ready to go?"

They all nodded as Jack looked at his watch. "And we still have ten minutes."

Hotch took a deep breath. "Then let's do this," he told them and they followed him to the table. He took a drink of his coffee and gave them a smile. "You all will be happy to know it's nothing serious, and that Mom will be fine."

They all visibly relaxed. "Then what's wrong?" Joey asked.

He looked at her. He knew the boys would understand but he wasn't sure about Joey. "Do you know what hormones are?"

Joey frowned. "You mean the things that make people's bodies change as they grow?"

He smiled. _She's so damn smart!_ He nodded. "Yes." They all looked a little confused so he continued. "Well, when women get older, their hormones start getting messed up. It's perfectly natural and it doesn't mean anything bad, but it does affect them."

Jack and Wyatt shared a look. "So that's why she's mad one day and sad the next?" Jack asked.

Hotch held back the chuckle that wanted to escape. "Yes, but she's started taking pills to get them back to normal."

"So she'll be alright?" Joey asked to make sure.

"Yes. Of course."

"And you promise that that's all there is to it?" Wyatt asked him as he fixed him with a serious look.

"I swear," he told them and they all relaxed even more. "But it might take a few days for the pills to work, so don't be surprised if Mom's still a little moody."

"She can be as moody as she wants as long as we know she's ok," Jack told him with a grin.

"But don't bring it up," Hotch told them. They all got a little suspicious with that, and he shifted in his seat. He sighed. "Mom didn't like the news because it made her feel old."

"What?!" Jack and Wyatt both exclaimed. "Mom's not old!" Wyatt injected.

Hotch held up his hand. "That's what I told her, but she'd still a little down about it."

Joey sat up a little straighter. "Then I guess we better make sure she knows she's not old."

Hotch eyed her. "Just don't be too obvious or she'll catch on."

Joey giggled and then shared a look with her brothers. "We can do that."

XXX

Once the kids left, Hotch went to get ready and went ahead and headed to work. He was sitting in his office filling out the case file from Florida when Rossi walked in and sat down. Hotch gave him a nod and then finished writing. Once he was done, he put his pen down and looked at the man he loved like a father.

Rossi grinned. "Since you didn't call me, I know it couldn't have been anything serious."

Hotch sighed. "No nothing like that."

Rossi frowned. "Then what is it?" Rossi asked with concerned filled eyes. Hotch told him, and Rossi cringed. "Oh, that poor child."

"Now see! What the hell? Kahlan reacted basically the same way and I don't get it."

Rossi studied him for a moment. "Oh, Aaron. . ."

"What? I was so happy that it wasn't something bad. . . and she. . . She was all depressed."

Rossi shook his head. "Aaron, Aaron, Aaron." He took a deep breath. "No woman would like getting that news, especially a woman like Kahlan."

Hotch sank back into his seat and ran a hand through his hair. "Once I saw she wasn't as happy as I was, I tried to make it better, but I think I was just digging myself in deeper."

Rossi sighed.

"What? I don't have any experience with this! I didn't know how to make her feel better."

Rossi ran a hand over his goatee. He knew Hotch hadn't been around older women. _Hell, even if his own mother was going through it, he wouldn't have noticed with everything he went through in that damn house._

"Tell me how to make this better, Dave." Rossi's brows rose, and Hotch drooped. "Please tell me you know how to make this better."

"Well, I think it's different for all women, but the principles are the same. Their bodies go crazy and they hate it."

Hotch huffed. "Thanks, Dave. Like I didn't already have that one figured out."

"Well, two of my wives went through it when I was with them. I guess the hardest thing was the moodiness."

Hotch snorted. "I figured that out, too."

Rossi sat up. "You know, they say that it runs in the family. . ."

"Well then, you can help me because you have her mother."

Rossi shook his head. "She was passed that point when I met her, Aaron."

Hotch wilted.

"But I can talk to her. She's bound to have some insight."

Hotch nodded and Garcia stuck her head in his door. "We have a case, Sir."

Hotch stood up. "Right behind you."

XXX

After a quick case in Ohio, Hotch and the team didn't get back till late one evening. Rossi grabbed Hotch's arm as they were getting off the jet. "Come have drink with me, Aaron." Hotch licked his lips and started to tell him no, that he had to get home, but Rossi spoke first. "Kahlan and the kids are with Cindi, and they already know."

Hotch took a deep breath. "Alright then."

Rossi smiled and they made their way to the SUVs. "Ride with me so we don't have both cars."

Hotch nodded and Rossi took them to a bar that Hotch hadn't gone to before. It wasn't a big place but it was a little crowded and Hotch had to almost elbow his way through the crowd as he followed Rossi. The way cleared as they got close to the dance floor, and when Hotch saw where Rossi was going, his breath hitched in his chest. There, sitting at a high-top table, were all three of his brother-in-laws. He shot Rossi a look as they got close. "What's this?"

Rossi grinned. "You need answers and who better to get them from than from the men who have gone through it with Kahlan's sisters?"

Hotch eyed the three men. He was closest to Mike, Donna's husband, because they lived close and he saw him all the time. Sandi's husband, Lee was a decent guy but he was way too quiet to be part of that family in Hotch's opinion. Helena's husband, Tony, was a short Italian from Pittsburg, and while he had never discussed it with Kahlan, Hotch was sure he was part of the Mafia. Tony was also Rossi's favorite of the three, for obvious reasons, and when Hotch brought up his theory to Rossi, Rossi just laughed and Hotch wasn't sure what to think of that.

Hotch took a deep breath and sat down as Rossi sat down beside him. They all smiled at him. "This is 'The Men of the Williams Women Support Group', Aaron," Mike told him as he slid several shot glasses full of what Hotch guessed was whiskey toward him. "Welcome to the club."

Hotch looked at the shot glasses. "And what's this, initiation?"

Mike shared a look with his brother-in-laws and they all laughed. "Nope, but you're going to need them," Tony told him.

Hotch's eyes went wide and he looked at Rossi. Rossi laughed, and Hotch ran a hand down his face. "What the hell," Hotch offered and downed one of the shots. The smooth liquor didn't bite his tongue, but it burned all the way down. He blew out a breath and settled into his seat a little more.

"So, Dave tells us that Kahlan has finally joined her sisters in the crazy club. We're here to answer any questions you may have and try to offer you advice on how to live through it," Mike told him.

Hotch studied them all. "Do the girls know you all are doing this?"

Tony snorted. "Please! They'd skin us alive if they knew!"

Mike laughed. "Donna think's I'm bowling with Tommy."

Hotch knew Tommy. He was Mike's brother and the when he had met him he liked him, too.

"Sandi thinks I'm at work," Lee put in. Lee worked at Musselman, a plant that made applesauce outside of Winchester.

"And Helena thinks I'm down here with a client," Tony confessed. Tony was a big wig for Ryan homes and traveled throughout Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia.

"And of course, Kahlan and Cindi think we are innocently having a drink," Rossi put in.

Hotch took a deep breath. _At least ours isn't a complete lie._

Mike took a drink of his drink. "So how bad has it been?"

Hotch looked at him. "Not that bad," he tried.

Mike looked at Rossi and then back to Hotch. "So that means it's been pretty bad."

Hotch snorted. "She's been a little moody. The worst part was not knowing what was wrong with her."

Lee nodded to that. "I can believe that. I just knew Sandi had cancer or something else just as horrible. I was relieved to find out what the problem really was."

Hotch winced. "So was I."

"Ut-oh," Tony started. "Let me guess, you got the whole 'men don't understand' speech?"

Hotch nodded and Mike pushed another shot glass closer to him. "I'm telling you, Aaron. We've all been there in one way or another. We understand what you're going through."

Hotch picked up the glass and downed it. "She's on pills now, though, so everything will be alright in a few days, right?"

Mike laughed. "A few days? That's funny!" Hotch's brows furrowed and Mike stopped laughing and pushed another shot to him. "It took Donna four months to find the right pill."

Hotch's mouth suddenly went as dry as the Sahara; he licked his lips. "Four months?" he asked and then downed another shot.

"I was lucky. Sandi did well with the first one," Lee told them.

"It took about two for Helena," Tony put it.

"Donna zipped back and forth through emotions like a ping pong ball. She'd be pissed one minute and then crying the next. Hell, I was going crazy."

Hotch shook his head. "I've only caught Kahlan crying once, but she's been mad a couple times for no reason."

Mike pushed another shot to him. "That will probably be her worst emotion. It seems like the hormonal imbalance accentuates their strongest one." Hotch paled with that news.

"Come on, Mike. Don't scare the man," Tony tried.

"Please!" Mike started as he looked at them. "We all know Kahlan got Daryl's temper with Cindi's short fuse. She got the worst of both of them, and you know it!"

Tony considered that a moment, cringed, and then nodded. "You're right." He turned to Hotch. "Sorry, Aaron."

Hotch licked his lips. Cindi did get mad easily, but she would spout out what was wrong and a minute later she'd be fine again. Helena was the most like her, too. Donna had a bad temper but it seemed like it took forever for her to blow, but once she did, she could give Kahlan a run for her money. Sandi, well, Hotch wasn't even sure Sandi even had a temper she was so laid back. He took a deep breath. _Of course I get the worst of both sides._ He ran a hand down his face and downed another shot.

"You all do keep your guns locked up, right?" Mike asked with a grin. Hotch shot him a dirty look knowing that Mike knew damn well they kept their guns secured because of the kids.

Lee almost snorted his drink. "You aren't saying that you think Kahlan would shoot him, are you?"

Mike sat up a little straighter and looked at Hotch. "I've known Kahlan the longest. Hell, I've known her since she was in the sixth grade." He took a deep breath. "I can imagine she hates this." Hotch nodded. "And I can imagine that she is going to fight it every step of the way."

Hotch considered him for a moment. "You think she won't take the pills to try and prove to herself that she doesn't need them?"

Mike shrugged. "I could see her doing it."

Hotch shook his head. _Oh God, I hope not!_ He downed another shot.

Tony cleared his throat and leaned in closer to Hotch. "So how has it affected the. . . bedroom?"

Hotch's eyes shot open and he shook his head as his cheeks heated, and the guys all laughed at him.

"Alright, Boys, play nice," Rossi told them and they all stopped and looked a little ashamed.

Hotch took a deep breath and down the last shot. "That'll go back to normal, too, though, right?"

Mike smirked. "That's where the girls were the most different. Donna. . . well, she became insatiable during those off months." He took a deep breath. "That was a nice problem, if you know what I mean," he added with a sly grin.

"Lucky dog!" Tony shot to him. "Helena didn't even want to be touched. I got where I had to sleep in the guest room because I couldn't handle sleeping next to her and not able to do anything about it."

Hotch's brows furrowed and then he looked at Lee, and Lee cleared his throat. "Sandi's sex drive bounced around like. . . well, like that ping pong ball Mike brought up earlier. I'd come home and she'd half attack me or I'd try something and she get pissed that I touched her. That was hard to deal with, but thankfully it only lasted about a month, too."

They all paused as a waitress brought them all another drink and several more shots. Once she left, Tony sat up a little. "And of course it happened again once Helena actually went through menopause, but she got over that, too," Tony added.

Hotch looked at him. "So it's over for you?"

Tony nodded. "Been about a year now."

"Well, Helena's ten years older than Kahlan, so Kahlan has plenty of time," Hotch tried and he knew he was just trying to convince himself that his wife would be alright.

"Yeah, she's the youngest, but it's still going to be a bumpy ride," Mike pointed out.

Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose. "I thought you guys were supposed to make me feel better, not worse."

Mike laughed. "No, I said we've give you information. I never said we were going to solve your problems."

Lee looked at Tony. "So do you think it's been better since Helena's been done with it or worse?"

Tony pursed his lips as he thought about it. After a few moments, he shrugged. "It has its pluses and minuses, but overall, I'd say better than when it was happening but not as good as before it all started."

Mike, Lee, and Hotch all sighed and then looked at each other and laughed. Tony grinned and then hit Rossi on the arm. "Yeah. Age doesn't have to stop the sex, does it, Dave?"

Rossi grinned proudly. "Cindi and I have a very healthy sex life, thank you."

They all laughed, Hotch tried not joining them, but he couldn't help himself, the liquor had loosened his tongue. "And just a little perverted."

Rossi looked at him with shock. "You really want to go there, Aaron?"

Hotch quickly held up a hand. "No! I'm sorry!"

The guys laughed at him. "Apparently all of the Williams women are a little kinky," Mike put out there as he grinned at the rest of them.

Hotch hid his eyes behind his hand. _Please don't let this turn into a 'who does what' session._

Rossi motioned towards Hotch, and the guys laughed even more.

XXX

By the time they all said goodnight and went their separate ways, Hotch was a little passed buzzed, but he wasn't drunk either. Rossi kept stealing glances at him as he drove him to his house. "You alright?"

Hotch nodded and then sighed. "Yeah. You know, I don't care how this will affect me. I just want her to be alright."

Rossi reached over and pat his thigh. "I know, Aaron. I know. And despite what the guys said, I think she will do whatever she can to get right again. She doesn't want to be like this for herself let alone for you and the kids."

Hotch nodded. "Yeah."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

When Hotch got home from his meeting with the guys, he found Kahlan in her den. She spun in her chair when she heard the door and smiled at him. "Hey."

"Hey." He smiled as he went to her.

"You and Dave have a good time?" she asked as she stood up and pulled him into a hug.

He nodded. "Yeah. He took me to some place outside of Manassas. It was decent, though."

She studied him for a moment. "You're not feeling any pain, are you?"

He chuckled. "Nope."

"Want some coffee?"

He pursed his lips and then shook his head. "Nah. I think I want the bed more."

She giggled and then reached back and turned off her desk lamp. "Then come on."

He looked at her desk. "What were you working on this late?"

She shrugged. "Nothing really. I was just messing around waiting for you," she told him as she led him upstairs.

"Sorry I'm so late, but it's Dave's fault."

She giggled and then helped him out of his suit jacket. "Then I will yell at him tomorrow."

He shook his head. "No. He means well," he told her as he slipped his shoes off.

She giggled. "Then I'll forgive him this time."

He nodded and took off his shirt. "I'm going to jump in the shower real quick."

She nodded. "I'll be here. You sure you're ok enough for that. I wouldn't want to see you fall or anything."

He huffed. "I am perfectly capable of taking a shower." His brows furrowed. "But I probably couldn't get in and out of the tub."

She giggled. "Leave the door cracked so if you need some help I'll hear you."

"Ok," he agreed as he jumped around on one foot trying to get his pants and boxers off his leg at the same time.

She watched him closely half expecting him to fall, but he got them off and headed into the bathroom without any more difficulty. She shook her head.

XXX

When Hotch emerged from the bathroom, he frowned at Kahlan laying on her back and staring up at the ceiling fan. He crawled into bed and laid down next to her as he mimicked her position. "So how are you feeling?"

She shrugged. "Bout the same, I guess."

He took a deep breath. "You know it can take a while for your body to adjust to those pills."

"I know."

"And you might even find out that you need a different one."

She turned her head and looked at him. "Did some research, did you?"

He shrugged. "Maybe."

She sighed. "I'm sorry for putting you and the kids through this."

He rolled over onto his side and fixed her with his stare, or as close as he could manage in his inebriated state. "Don't you dare apologize like it's something you're doing on purpose, Kahlan Lavonne Hotchner! And you are not putting us through anything. It's you who is suffering this, not us."

She rolled over on her side to face him and put a hand on his cheek. "Always the gentleman." She leaned in and kissed him. "But I hope you don't change your mind about that before this is all over."

He pulled her to him. "Never!"

She rolled in his arms and snuggled her back up against him. "I love you, Aaron."

He smiled and reached over and shut off the light and then nestled his head down onto her shoulder. "I love you, too, Babe."

She reached down and threw the blanket over them. "Goodnight, Hun. I'll see you in the morning."

He nodded. "Yep," he told her and he was out in no time.

XXX

The next week went by without any major problems. In fact, Hotch thought the biggest problem was when Kahlan was asleep. She was either curled up against him like normal or throwing the covers off and trying to cool down. It was getting rare for Hotch to be able to sleep through the night, but he never said anything. He couldn't imagine going through hot flashes and night sweats, so he silently suffered through without complaining. He did keep an extra blanket under his side of the bed, though, for the times she absconded with their regular ones so he wouldn't have to go in search of another one.

He had been keeping tabs on her moods, too, and even the kids agreed that Kahlan seemed to be getting back to normal. Hotch figured the pills were working, and he was glad for that, but one evening after the kids went to bed, he found her in their bathroom. She was sitting on the closed toilet, crying. His heart ached as he went to her. He didn't let it scare him knowing it probably was over something little, but he still hated to see her like that. He knelt down next to her. "What?" he asked as he reached up and wiped her tears away.

She huffed. "I have gray hair!"

He pulled back a little and looked at her. He couldn't believe she had gotten some and he didn't notice. He figured with as jet black as her hair was, gray hair would stick out drastically. "What? Where?"

She held up a fist. "Right here!" In between her thumb and knuckle of her index finger was a gray hair.

He bit back the smile that wanted to show. "Oh, Babe," he exclaimed as he stood up and pulled her to his midsection. He wanted to point out that it didn't mean anything, that she wasn't as old as she thought, but he knew she wouldn't agree, so he just kept his mouth shut that time.

She sighed against his stomach. "How many is it going to take before you don't find me attractive anymore?"

He pulled back and looked her in the eyes. "What?!" He shook his head. "That will never happen!" He knew Kahlan wasn't vain; she was comfortable with however she looked: no makeup in tactical gear, in a formal gown all decked out, whatever; and it made his heart clenched to think that she thought his opinion of her would change as she aged. He pulled her up and took her face in his hands. "I wouldn't care if every hair on your head was white or if you have little wrinkles around your eyes; you will always be the most beautiful woman in the world to me," he told her seriously as he held her eyes with his and hoped she could see the honesty behind his words.

"You say that now, but give it a couple of years. . ."

He shut her up by kissing her. Once he pulled back his fixed eyes with her again. "You know how you always threaten me when I'm thinking stupid things?" Her brows furrowed, but she nodded. "Well, if you ever say anything like that again, I'm going to hit you."

She licked her lips and then gave him a small smile. "I love you."

He pulled her back and wrapped her arms around her. "I love you, too, Babe, today, tomorrow, and the rest of forever." She melted into him. He chuckled. "And, hey, you're still doing better than me."

She pulled back and looked up at him. "You don't have any gray hair!"

His brows rose. "Have you seen my face? I think there's more gray than anything else in my beard anymore."

She smiled. "But it's sexy on you."

He smiled. "Only as long as it's scruffy."

She gave him a look. "Well, duh!"

He chuckled and pulled her back to him, but he mentally sighed. _What's next?_

XXX

After a couple more days, it was Mother's Day, and Hotch was home for it. He and the kids made Kahlan breakfast in bed and as he watched her eating with the kids all on the bed around her, he mentally cringed because he could tell she was feeling a little down even though she was trying hard to hide it. Once they got her up and down stairs, they gave her their presents and by the time she got done opening them, it seemed like her mood had taken a lighter turn and Hotch smiled when she locked eyes with him.

He took her hand and pulled her up off the couch. "You have to come outside for my present."

She grinned as she let him lead her. "Oh yeah?" she asked and the kids followed as they giggled. Kahlan looked back at them but they didn't give anything away.

He smiled and took her out the front door and down the sidewalk toward the driveway. When he got to the end, he stopped and turned to her.

She stared at him expecting him to do something, show her the present or something. She raised her brows in question. "And?"

He chuckled. "And yet you say you're observant."

Her brows furrowed and then she looked around, first around the driveway, then towards the street, and then finally back towards the house. Her hand shot to her mouth as she gasped. "Oh my God, Aaron!" she exclaimed as she went into the yard.

His dimples showed how much he loved her reaction and he quickly followed her.

"It's gorgeous!" she exclaimed as she turned back towards him. "Where? How? It's so big!" she stammered as she went up to the newest addition to the Hotchner yard. It was a massive orange rose bush and it was overflowing with blooms.

He turned her back towards it and put his arm around her shoulder. "Mr. Baker wanted to thin out his garden."

Her head snapped to him, and he held up his hand. "I talked to him and bought it from him," he told her and then leaned in close. "I did not steal it," he added in a whisper. "It wasn't all that hard to talk him into it, he knows how much you like them."

She ghosted gentle hands over the blooms. "These are the best roses I have ever gotten," she told him and then leaned up and gave him a kiss.

When she pulled back, her smile made his heart soar. After a second of staring into his eyes, she turned to the kids. "And nothing better happen to it!"

Joey held up her hands. "I only broke one and that was two years ago!" They all laughed.

They spent the rest of the day hanging out as a family and then Kahlan went with her sisters as they took Cindi out for dinner as was the tradition. She also took her mother a handful of freshly cut orange roses. Hotch wasn't sure, but he thought she did it to brag to her sisters, and that made him grin. All in all, he thought the day went pretty well considering.

XXX

Another week went by and he got home from a case a little after four one afternoon. As soon as he walked in the door he knew something was wrong. Kahlan was in the kitchen, apparently getting things ready to fix dinner, and he could tell she was pissed by the way she was banging the pots and pans around. He bit his lip and then went to her to see what he could do. The kids weren't anywhere in sight and he figured they were either in their rooms doing their homework or they had split.

He walked around the corner and Kahlan was shaking her head in disgust. He took a deep breath. "Hey, Babe."

She turned to him and the anger in her eyes almost made him take a step back. She ran a hand through her hair. "I can't find the lid!" she exclaimed as she held up a saucepan.

He licked his lips and then went passed her and looked down in the cabinet where the pan and the lid should have been. He saw it in the back, grabbed it, and handed it to her.

"Thank you!" she told him and then slammed it down on the stove.

"Anything else I can help with?" he asked.

She took a deep breath. "I'm going to go take a walk."

His brows furrowed. "You want some company?"

"No," she told him as she moved towards the door. "I'm sorry, but. . . It's nothing. . . and I don't want to take out on you. Just give me a few minutes."

He nodded. "Of course. I'll cook dinner. You relax."

She nodded and headed to the door with her jaw clenched and Hotch could tell she was trying hard to keep a lid on the worst of it. He looked towards the dining room and called for Sampson. "Go with Mom," he told him and Sampson scrambled to get out the door before Kahlan closed it, and Hotch took a deep breath. _Maybe these pills aren't working the best._

Kahlan was gone for twenty minutes, but she had a smile on her face when she came back in the house and Hotch was relieved. She helped him finish dinner and the rest of the night went by without any more problems.

XXX

Four days later, when Hotch called home, Kahlan told him she was trying a different pill. "Alright. Whatever you think is best," he tried to sound as neutral as possible.

She huffed. "Don't tell me you think the other one was working?"

"Well. . ."

She laughed. "You can be honest with me, Aaron. I worry that I don't even notice it all."

He took a deep breath. _That so sounds like a trap._ "I've only seen a couple things," he offered.

She laughed again. "Thank you."

"What?"

"For being you and not letting on that I'm driving you crazy."

He huffed. "No, it's you who's going crazy, remember?"

"Shut up, Aaron!"

"The kids are still alive, right?"

"Aaron!"

He chuckled. "Love you, Babe."

She huffed. "I'm beginning to wonder!"

"Hey!"

She giggled. "I love you, too, Hun. Be safe tomorrow."

"We should be done and headed back before it's too late."

"Good. Text me when you're on the way."

"Yep," he agreed and then ended the call. He ran a hand down his face. _We'll get through this._

XXX

After another week, Hotch and the team were in New Mexico trying to find a serial arsonist. On his second night, he called home like usual, and Kahlan sounded a little off and his brows furrowed as he wondered what the problem was then. "How much longer are you guys going to be?" she asked.

"I don't know. We don't have a whole lot to go on. Hopefully we catch a break soon, why?" The only time she was ever worried about when they'd be home is when she had something serious going on at work and he sat up straighter as his chest tightened. When he heard her take a deep breath, his worry doubled.

"Because I want you home."

"Why? What are you getting into, Kahlan?"

"Huh?"

He licked his lips. "You have an important case or something that I'm not going to like?"

"No!" She giggled. "It has nothing to do with my job."

He ran a hand down his face as he tried to figure out what she was talking about. "Then why are you so worried about when I'll get home?"

She giggled her secret giggle and his heart skipped a beat. "Because I want you, Aaron."

The passion in her tone made his heart suddenly sped up. "Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah."

"I think I like these new pills."

She laughed. "It's about time, isn't it?"

"Oh yeah."

"Then use those amazing skills you all have and get the damn case solved so you can come home!"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

She giggled again. "But be safe doing it!"

"Like I want to get hurt with my future looking so great," he joked.

"Well, I better let you go before I can't sleep."

He sighed. "Yeah. I suddenly have to take a cold shower."

She laughed. "I'm sorry."

"I'm not!"

She laughed some more. "Then I'll talk to you tomorrow night, Hun. I love you."

He smiled, "I love you, too, Babe." As he put his phone on the nightstand and grabbed his pajamas, he smiled again. _Thank you, God!_


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Hotch was starting to get a little miffed with the arson case. The whole team had been trying their damnedest to solve it, but they kept running into dead ends. They had a profile, but no unsub. They had plenty of evidence, but it was mostly circumstantial. He sighed as he sat down at the table in the conference room the local police had loaned them. He stared at the white boards covered with information and such and he shook his head. They couldn't find any connections between the fires and that meant they couldn't figure out why the unsub was targeting those places. _I need a break._ He stood up, ran a hand through his hair, and headed to the exit. It had been two days since Kahlan had let him know that she was finally in the mood again, and as much as he wanted to get home, he wanted to stop the unsub even more.

The latest fire had injured three people and one of them was a little girl. She had suffered severe burns on her back and chest as the fire burned through the floor above her and her parents as they had been living in an abandoned building. Her parents were also hurt, but not as badly as she was because she had escaped her father's arms to go back for her dog. When Hotch heard that, his heart cried because he could picture his own daughter doing the same thing for her cat.

He walked down the block and flopped down on a bench and dropped his head into his hands. _Come on, Hotchner, think! You're missing something!_ He sighed heavily and then felt someone sit down beside him and a small grin escaped him.

"Don't force it, Aaron. You know your brain works better when you relax," Rossi told him as he nudged Hotch's shoulder.

Hotch inhaled deeply and sat up. "I know, but I can't help but feeling that I'm missing something."

Rossi handed him a coffee. "I know what you mean. I've had that feeling since last night."

Hotch took the cup and took a drink. As his head was leaned back, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he knew he was being watched. He slowly lowered the cup and tried to look around without making it too obvious.

Rossi noticed the sudden change in him. "What?" he asked. His low tone conveyed his concern.

Hotch licked his lips as he shot Rossi a look. "I feel like I'm being watched."

Rossi leaned back and stretched his back as a ruse to take a look around. He didn't see anyone that was showing them any attention, though, and he frowned. "I'm going to go back in and see if I see anyone behind us," he whispered to him and then laughed to cover his plan.

Hotch nodded and raised his cup again as he looked across the street. His hand involuntarily clenched and the scalding coffee burst out of the crushed paper cup and all over his hand and thigh. He jumped up as he cussed and threw the cup down and tried to wipe his hand off on his dry pant leg.

Rossi turned as soon as he heard Hotch and he went back to him. "What the hell, Aaron?"

Hotch's attention snapped back across the busy street and his eyes searched as his heart and breathing sped up.

"What?!" Rossi demanded to know seeing how disturbed Hotch was getting. He also looked across the street, but he didn't see anything he thought would cause that kind of a reaction. He knew he couldn't have seen the unsub because they had no idea who it was.

Hotch licked his lips and swallowed hard as his eyes searched the entire street.

"Aaron!" Rossi almost yelled as he put a hand on Hotch's shoulder. When Hotch flinched away from him, Rossi's heart skipped a beat.

Hotch ran a hand down his face, and Rossi cringed when he saw how bad Hotch's hand was trembling. He finally took a shaky breath and shook his head.

Rossi reached up and clasped his shoulders and turned him to face him. "What?" he demanded again as he locked eyes with Hotch.

Hotch shook his head and took a deep breath. "Nothing. I just thought I saw something."

Rossi searched his face and noticed that Hotch had sweat beading out on his forehead and upper lip and his pulse was pounding in his neck. "What do you think you saw?"

Hotch ran a hand along the back of his neck. "Nothing. It was just a haunted memory making its way to the surface, that's all."

Rossi mentally cringed because he knew what haunted memory could cause that kind of a reaction. He looked across the street again and noticed a blonde waiting at the bus stop and his fears were confirmed. "Are you alright?"

Hotch nodded a little too quickly, and Rossi knew he wasn't, at least not completely. Hotch gave him a forced smile. "I need another coffee."

Rossi chuckled in spite of himself. "You think?"

Hotch grinned. "Yeah." He took another deep breath and then sat back down on the bench. He dropped his head into his hands as he rested his elbows on his knees and tried to collect himself. Rossi sat down beside him again and silently let him take all the time he needed. After a few minutes Hotch sat up. "That makes me think, though."

"Ok," Rossi drew out and waited for Hotch to explain.

"You know how when Green went after the team we thought it was collateral damage because she couldn't get to me?"

"Yeah," Rossi offered.

"What if our last victims aren't collateral damage but were the targets the whole time?"

"Then he set the other fires to make us think it was a random thing hitting the whole city."

Hotch nodded. "Even the Fire Marshal said the only reason the family didn't succumb to smoke inhalation was because the dog started barking and woke them up. The unsub made sure the place was sealed up pretty tight. He wanted them dead one way or the other."

Rossi ran a hand over his goatee. "If that's the case, they're sitting ducks at that hospital."

They both stood up, and Hotch took out his phone as he headed to the SUV parked in the lot on the side of the station. Rossi mentally smiled as he followed Hotch. While it hurt to see Hotch scared like that, he was proud of how quickly Hotch moved passed it and how he had let it help him with the case. _That's my boy!_

XXX

After JJ convinced the family that the BAU didn't care whether or not they were in the country illegally and that they were not going to call Immigration on them, the father, Julio Gonzalez, finally confessed to fleeing Mexico after he had burned up a truck load of cocaine. Apparently the man's brother was killed by the cartel because he ran late with a shipment and Julio had gotten his revenge. The cartel found out, though, and apparently had tracked the man and his family into the US. Hotch set up security and convinced the couple that they would keep them safe.

By ten that night, the unsub had tried to get to them, but the team swept in and took him down without anyone getting hurt. Hotch watched as local officers took the man, a Mexican national who worked for the cartel, into custody. He smiled mentally. They had also found out that the little girl, Rosa, would pull through. He massaged his forehead and then felt a hand on his back. "Come on, let's go get some sleep," Rossi suggested.

Hotch nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me." He went to check on the little family one more time and then gathered his team up and they headed to the hotel.

XXX

Right about when Hotch was starting to finally doze off, he heard a knock on his door. _Really? _He fought his way out of the covers and grabbed his pistol before he made his way to the door. He figured the whole team was sound asleep by then, so he had no idea who it could be. He looked through the peephole and shook his head because he couldn't believe what he was seeing. _What the hell?_ He blinked hard a few times and then took another look and sure enough, Kahlan was standing outside of his room.

He quickly pulled the door open and looked at her with furrowed brows. "What are you doing here?" he asked as he pulled her in and shut the door. He looked her up and down and his breath hitched in his chest. She was wearing a long trench coat that covered her up completely down to her calves, what showed of her legs was covered in hose and she had on shiny, black, high heels. He swallowed; Kahlan never wore high heels unless she was dressed up.

"I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't be, but I couldn't take it anymore," she told him as she took a step towards him.

Her voice quivered and he ran a hand through his hair. "Couldn't take what?"

She went to him in a rush and put a hand on his chest. "God, Aaron. I need you!"

His brows rose as his dimples emerged. "Your libido finally get woken back up fully, huh?"

She took a deep breath as a shiver ran through her and he started to imagine her naked under the coat and had to adjust himself. She locked eyes with him. "And it's in overdrive. If you don't do something, I'm going to have to hire someone."

"I don't think so!" he told her and pulled her to his chest and looked into her eyes. The lust he saw in them made it hard for him to breathe. He could feel her trembling and he wasn't sure if she was cold or really that turned on.

"Oh thank God!" she breathed and melted into him and reached up and pulled his head down and kissed him, roughly.

A moan escaped him because she wasn't gentle in anyway, abut his tongue battled with hers as he moved them backwards towards the bed. When the back of his knees connected with it, he sat down under the pressure of her pushing on him and she hiked up the end of the coat to straddle his legs. Once she pulled back, they both fought for air. "I know you're in the middle of a case, but I. . ." she started to apologize.

"We finished tonight. You're fine," he assured her as his hands moved and started to untie the belt of the coat; it was the only thing keeping it closed.

She scooted even closer to him and started grinding her pelvis into him and his manhood jumped with the attention. A long, low moan escaped him. "Damn, Babe," he breathed and then pulled the belt loose and slowly opened the coat. His eyes went wide as he stared at her. He looked at her body then looked into her eyes. "Wow!" he gasped. She was wearing a red and black, corset type, teddy with matching garters that held up her black shaded hose.

She smiled. "You like?"

He nodded. "Uh-huh," he hummed because he suddenly lost the ability to actually form words as his eyes feasted on her again.

She ran a hand through his hair and then fisted her fingers into it and pulled him closer so she could nibble on his ear. "I had to make sure you'd say yes," she whispered in between kisses as her tongue explored him from the tip of the cartilage to his lobe.

He squirmed and laughed but he didn't pull away.

"So I can stay?" she asked as her kisses traced his jaw line and ended up on his lips.

He nodded again as he pushed the coat off of her shoulders, and she giggled as she let it slip from her arms. Then she scooted back a little and stuck a hand down into his sweats and moved them enough to bring his manhood out. She stroked him and his soft moans let her know exactly how much he'd missed the attention. As soon as he was completely hard, she pushed his sweats off and scooted forward again and started grinding on him. He gasped as his head fell back. He could feel her wetness through her panties and he felt himself already getting close, so he pulled back. "Stop that, or I'm not going to make it much longer."

She nodded. "I know it's been too long. Let yourself go and the second time will be so much nicer."

He shook his head and scooted back onto the bed fully as he pulled her with him, and she kicked off her shoes. Once they were completely on there, he rolled them over. "I don't want to go over the edge without you. Come with me," he offered as he started kissing a trail down her neck to the top of her breasts. The noises coming from her made him pull back and study her because it almost sounded like she was crying, but the look of pleasure on her face made him continue. She was squirming so badly, he had to wonder if she was closer to the edge than he was.

He smiled and let his fingers ghost over her core and she cried out. "Please, Aaron!"

He chuckled. "How badly do you want it, Babe?" he asked as he unhooked her hose from her garters and kissed her legs as he pulled her hose off.

"Worse than you. . . I imagine," she got out between pants and gasps.

"I don't know about that," he offered as he threw the pantyhose to the floor and started pulling her panties down. As soon as they got close to her knees, she squirmed her legs out of them and spread her legs eagerly. He chuckled again and moved his head into position. As soon as he was close, she flinched and cried out as if he had hurt her. He rose up in a rush and looked at her. "Babe?"

"God, Aaron!"

He chuckled again. "That was a good sound?" She nodded and shifted closer to him as if he didn't already know how badly she wanted him. "Damn, Babe. I didn't even touch you yet."

"I felt your breath," she told him as she quivered beneath him.

"Oh yeah," he drew out making sure to breath heavily across her. "You're that sensitive?" Small cries escaped her as she fisted the blankets in her hands and he smiled. _Damn, Babe!_ "So what happens if I blow on you?" he asked and did.

She gasped as she squirmed and her legs trembled.

He laughed. He hadn't seen her that wanting before, and he so love teasing her.

Before he could figure out how to torture her next, though, her legs wrapped around him, and then she flipped them. Before he knew what happened, she was on top of him and sinking down onto him. "You took too long," she offered as his brows rose in surprise.

He bit his lip as she took him in completely. "God, Babe, you're so hot!"

She nodded as she dug her nails into his chest and started riding him, slowly and deeply. "Ohhhhhh," he breathed as he reached up and started undoing the little clasps holding the front of her corset closed so he could get to the breasts he loved to handle so much.

Each time she pushed down, she sped up, and before long she was slamming herself down onto him as she panted. His hands went to her hips and he tried to slow her down because he was so close, but it was like she was in a trance and she continued her assault as her nails dug into his flesh even harder and he groaned as he cummed. She continued and he wasn't even sure she noticed. He knew he had softened, but she held him so firmly that she didn't lose him and he started to wonder if she was really as close as he had thought.

He let his fingers journey back to her breasts as she cried out a little with each thrust. He watched as her face scrunched up and he wasn't sure if it was in pain or in frustration. "Babe?"

"So close," she whined and tried to speed up even more. She drew her legs together making his move closer, too, and he grunted with each thrust because the move had sandwiched his balls a little too closely and every downward thrust slammed into them, too.

He bit his lip to hold back his pain trying to give her time to finish, but after several more minutes, he couldn't take it anymore and he pushed on her knees to straighten her legs out and then rolled them over. "Here, let me try," he offered as he started thrusting.

She kept moving her legs around, from his shoulders, to his back, to the bed, all trying to find that perfect position as her hands moved up and down his back. After a few minutes, she growled in frustration. He swallowed. "Jesus, Babe!"

"I know!" she exclaimed and then reached around and grabbed his ass with both hands and pulled him into her as far as she could.

He winced as her nails dug into him but he pushed to get as much of himself in her as he could and she finally clenched around him as she cried out his name. Her whole body shook with the power of her orgasm and as soon as she was done, she collapsed back onto the bed as she fought to catch her breath. He collapsed on top of her and then rolled off as he tried to get his own breathing under control.

He looked over at her still glassy eyed and chuckled. "You alright?"

She nodded as she smiled; she couldn't talk yet.

He reached over and rubbed the hair back from her forehead and he wasn't sure which one of them was sweating the worst. He rolled over on his side and looked at her. "So apparently being home alone this evening got to be too much for you?"

She huffed. "The last three days. It got to the pint I couldn't even think straight."

He chuckled again. "From one extreme to the next," he offered as his fingers traced down her side.

She pushed his hand away. "Don't!"

"What?"

"Please don't touch me like that," she begged and the way she spoke he knew she was turned on again.

"Really? Already?" he asked and the shock was evident in his voice.

She swallowed and nodded as she bit her lip. After a moment, she sat up. "I should go," she told him and got up off the bed.

"What?!" he asked as he got up and went to her. "You are not leaving in the middle of the night like this, Kahlan!"

She took a deep breath. "But if I don't leave, you're not going to get any sleep."

He licked his lips as he smiled. "Is that a threat?"

She shook her head as she advanced on him and grabbed him by his pleasure points. "No, that's a promise," she assured him as pleasure ripped through him making his eyes roll back and his manhood twitch. She squirmed worse than he did and she had to force herself to let him go.

He gasped for air as he looked at her. "I've gone without sleep before."

"But your case. . ."

"All were doing is wrapping up tomorrow. I could do that in my sleep," he told her as he pulled her to him and reached down and started massaging her bundle. Her knees almost buckled and he placed a supporting hand on her back and pulled her back to the bed.

She tried to pull away from him. "But you're not ready for round two yet."

He laid her down on her back. "I think I know of more than one way to please you, Kahlan," he told her and descended on her.

"Oh God!" she breathed as his tongue slid over her folds. She reached down and fisted her fingers in his hair and wrapped her legs around his shoulders as he slid first one finger into her and then two.

It didn't take as long to take her over the edge the second time, and Hotch grinned as he watched her recovering. He had gotten hard again in the process of pleasing her, but he knew he'd be alright in a few minutes.

Once she could speak, she rolled over on her side and smiled at him. "You are so amazing!"

He reached out and pulled her to him. "I love you," he told her as he nestled his head into neck and shoulder.

She giggled and pulled away from him. "Please don't. I don't know if I can handle anymore tonight."

He held up his hands. "I didn't even do anything."

She sighed. "I know," she whined.

His brows shot up. "Again?"

She pressed the palm of her hand into her forehead. "I'm just going to lay over here and try to go to sleep," she told him as she maneuvered under the covers.

He moved closed to her and leaned up to her ear. "Like you'll be able to sleep."

She gasped as his hot breath danced across her ear and a whine escaped her.

He moved the covers off of her and moved his hips to hers and let her feel how much he wanted her.

She pushed back against his erection. "Oh, Aaron."

XXX

By the time they were done, the sky was getting lighter and they were both sitting up on the bed with their backs resting against the headboard, and they were both breathing like they had just got done running a marathon.

Kahlan let her head fall back against the wall. "I am so sorry, Hun."

He looked at her. "For what?"

She turned to him with shame written all over her face. "I'm pretty sure a couple times that bordered on assault."

He chuckled as he grabbed her hand. "It can't be assault if both parties consent, Babe."

She looked him up and down. She had marked him many times, and while that would be bad in itself, she had also scratched him and even bruised him in a few places. She cringed. "You even look like you've been assaulted."

He looked down at him agreed silently but he gave her a smile. "And you never heard me complain, did you?" The sadness in her features made him take her face in gentle hands. "I'm fine, Babe."

"You sure?"

He smiled. "Yes." He pulled her close and gave her a tender kiss. "But I am exhausted." He looked at his watch. "I am going to try and get an hour if that's alright with you."

She nodded and moved to pull the covers back. She waited for him to climb in and then she settled into her spot. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight, Babe. I love you."

"I love you, too, Hun." And they were both out within minutes.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Hotch growled in disapproval when his alarm went off. He reached up and hit the snooze button so hard, that he thought for a second he had broken the alarm clock. _It deserves it!_ He ran a hand down his face. All he really wanted to do was snuggle down into the pillow and escape back into the land of sleep. _The team would be alright without me for a few hours, right?_ He forced his eyes opened and looked down at his wife still sleeping peacefully in his arms. _No, then she'll feel guilty for coming and keeping me up. Damn it!_ He sighed and then stretched. A moan escaped him before he even realized it was forming and he cringed at how sore he was. _Shit!_ The night's activities, which had gotten rather rough at some points, had taken their toll.

He ran a hand down along the back of his neck and then winced as his fingers went across several welted up scratches. _Jesus Christ! I didn't even know she put them there._ He silently hoped the collar of his shirt would hide them. He took a deep breath. _I need a shower. Not only do I need to clean up, but it might also wake me up._ When he tried to slide out from under Kahlan, though, she groaned and held him tight. He chuckled and peeled her arm off of him. She pulled out of his grasp and wrapped it back around him even tighter. He shook his head. "Kahlan?" he tried as he stroked her hair back from her forehead. "Babe!" he tried louder as he nudged her. "Come on, let me go. I have to get up."

She moaned and shook her head. "No!"

He chuckled again. "But I have to get up. You can sleep as long as you want."

"But I want to sleep with you," she whined.

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "And you will tonight, but I have to get up."

She sighed and then slid off of him and finally looked at him with bloodshot eyes that showed exactly how tired she was. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Keeping you up all night."

He gave her a smile crooked smile and one dimple. "And I can take a nap on the jet on the way back home."

"You sure they can't do it without you today?"

"Oh, I'm sure they could, but they don't need to. I'll be fine as soon as get a shower," he assured her, leaned over to give her a kiss, and then got up.

"Oh, Hun!" she exclaimed as she watched him head to the bathroom.

He turned to her. "What?"

She cringed as she bit her lip in shame. "Your back! Oh my God!" She got up and went to him in a rush. "Does that hurt?" she asked as she ran gentle fingers down several deep scratches. He flinched a little and she whined. "I can't believe I did that!"

He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. "I'll be fine," he assured her and then pulled back and looked her in the eyes. "But next time, don't sharpen your claws first."

A pathetic laugh escaped her. "If you go get my bag, I have something I can put on them."

He nodded. "Let me take my shower and then you can heal me up."

She nodded and cringed as she watched him walk into the bathroom. _My God, Kay! Could you have been any more aggressive?_ She shook her head and went to his bag and took out one of his t-shirts and a pair of shorts. She ran her hand through her hair trying to get it to lay right, but then said the hell with it. She didn't care how she looked as she opened the door and went in search of the coffee she knew her husband desperately needed.

Hotch gave himself a good, long look in the mirror. _Jesus Christ! I don't think I looked this bad after Green._ He cringed at even making that comparison and shook his head. He knew that thinking he had seen Green the day before had brought her back into the front of his mind. He sighed and then looked his reflection in the eyes. _She's dead, Hotchner, let it go._ He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After a few moments he opened them again and gave himself a small smile.

As his eyes trailed over his reflection again, though, he winced. _If these pills don't even out, I'll never make it._ He sighed and then turned so he could see his back in the mirror. He cringed and understood why Kahlan was so ashamed by what she had done. He had so many scratches going up and down his back that he couldn't even count them all. He turned a little more and looked at his butt. He shook his head; he could clearly see her handprints with the bruises she'd left him with and at the end of each finger there was a half-moon cut where her nails had dug into him. _Try not to sit on anything too hard today, Hotchner._ He shook his head and turned on the shower. As soon as it was hot, he stepped in and tried to relax stiff, sore muscles. He hadn't felt that worn out since he had run his last triathlon.

Before Kahlan could get back into the room with her two cups of coffee, she ran into Rossi. He stopped in his tracks, surprised to see her. As he appraised her, he chuckled. "Damn, Kiddo."

She gave him a dirty look. "Shut up, Dave."

He laughed even harder. "I guess a certain Unit Chief looks just as rough as you?"

She winced. "Worse."

He shook his head. "We can do this without him this morning."

She shook her head. "I think he might be afraid to be left alone with me again."

He bit his lip to stop the laugh that wanted to escape and swallowed. "Well, don't worry. I'll keep an eye on him," he told her as he leaned in and kissed her cheek.

She nodded and gave him a smile. "Yep. I better get these to him."

"Tell him I'm down at breakfast if he wants to join me," he told her as he moved passed her down the hall. "I'm sure he'll need the sustenance," he added and then laughed.

She shook her head and opened the door.

XXX

Hotch emerged from the bathroom wearing his sweats and chuckled when he saw what Kahlan was wearing. He looked at her feet. "Really? Even my running shoes?"

She shrugged. "My slippers are in my bag," she told him as she handed him his coffee.

"Oh, thank you," he breathed and took a long drink.

She giggled. "It's the least I can do after using you so badly last night."

He sat down beside her at the little table and he had to hide the wince that wanted to show when his butt and back connected with the chair and he shook his head at her. "Would you stop? It's fine!"

She shook her head and then looked at him. "So, can I just ride back with you all?"

He smiled. "Yep. You can go back to bed and I'll call you as soon as we're on our way back here so you can get up and get ready."

She smiled. "Sounds good to me."

XXX

When Hotch walked into the room where breakfast was being served by the hotel, he nodded to Morgan and JJ and then moved to the coffee machine, fixed himself a cup, and went and joined Rossi. Rossi appraised him slowly and then shook his head. "Damn, Aaron, you look like shit."

Hotch huffed and then got up. "I know," he confessed and then moved to get himself something to eat.

Rossi watched him go and a huge smile spread onto his face. When he saw JJ looking, he shrugged and laughed a little. JJ shook her head and went back to talking with Morgan.

Hotch came back with a plate full of scrambled eggs, several pieces of bacon, and toast, and Rossi laughed. "Damn. Hungry, huh?"

Hotch took a deep breath and silently picked up a piece of bacon and ripped off half of it with his teeth.

"I think that's the most I have ever seen on your plate except when Kahlan's sitting at the table," Rossi told him and then took a sip of his coffee.

"I'm actually hungry. Sue me!" Hotch told him and then took a big bite of eggs.

"I can imagine after all that exercise you got," Rossi told him as he lowered his voice so just Hotch would hear him.

Hotch head snapped to him and he studied him.

Rossi grinned like the Cheshire cat. "You do know I was in the room next to you, right?"

Hotch's eyes grew a little as his cheeks darkened.

"These wall aren't the thickest," Rossi continued and Hotch sank down into his seat some. "I had to turn on the TV to drown you all out."

Hotch almost choked on his bite of eggs and his face got even redder.

"That didn't even help at some points. I was seriously thinking about getting up and checking to make sure that she wasn't killing you," Rossi added with a chuckle as Hotch stopped eating all together and got even redder. "And once the team knows Kahlan's here, they're going to know what those marks are on your neck."

Hotch coughed and finally looked at him. "At least they respect me enough not to say anything about it!"

Rossi sat back and smiled. "It has nothing to do with whether or not I respect you, Aaron. I just love how embarrassed you get."

Hotch took a drink of his coffee and then snorted. "Yeah, you love torturing me."

"Apparently not as much as Kahlan," Rossi offered lightly.

Hotch's eyes widened and he shook his head as he ran a hand over the back of his neck.

"Stop messing with them. That will only make them redder."

Hotch cringed and pulled his hand down.

"If you had told me she was going to meet you, I would have gotten a different room."

Hotch looked at him. "I didn't even know she was coming," he tried to defend himself and then took another bite of his breakfast.

Rossi's brows rose as he grinned. "Really? Hell, with the noises through the wall, I even knew she was cumming."

Hotch choked and little pieces of egg flew from his mouth as his head snapped to the man he looked up to as a father. "David Michael Rossi! I cannot believe you just said that!"

With as red as Hotch's face had gotten, Rossi lost it and almost shook himself out of his chair from laughing so hard.

Hotch swallowed, wiped his face, and stood up. "I'll see you at the station," he spouted as he picked up his half eaten breakfast and threw it in the trash behind him.

Rossi's laughter wouldn't allow him to speak, so he nodded and waved Hotch off.

Hotch shook his head and huffed and then turned towards the exit as his face heated again; Rossi was still laughing.

XXX

Once they were all on their way back home on the jet, Hotch excused himself from the group and headed for his normal seat in the back, and he was out within minutes. Kahlan smiled as she watched him sleeping and then turned her attention back to the card game. They were all playing poker and just chit chatting about this and that having a good time.

The almost four hour nap Hotch got on the way back really didn't do anything except stiffen him back up and he sighed as he sat up. Kahlan, who had moved to sit beside him before landing, cringed. "You need to get home and soak in the tub."

He nodded. "I have to turn the files in first."

She shook her head. "I'm sure Bill would be fine getting them tomorrow."

Hotch shook his head. "I'll be fine as soon as I start moving. I'll be home for dinner, though."

She smiled. "And what would you like?"

He considered it for a moment. "Pork chops. We haven't had those in a while."

She giggled and leaned over and kissed his cheek. "What my man wants, he gets."

He leaned in close to her. "And tonight, he wants a full night's sleep."

She laughed. "Yes, Sir. I will keep my hands to myself."

XXX

The BAU lucked out and had the next two days case-free, but poor Hotch got home to find Kahlan in almost the same shape as when she showed up in New Mexico. He hadn't even healed completely yet, and he could tell Kahlan was trying her hardest to not attack him, but he felt bad for her. He pulled her to him as they laid in bed.

She shook her head and tried to pull out of his grasp. "No, Hun, and I've called the doctor. I am picking up different pills tomorrow. I promise."

He chuckled. "Come on. You just have to be gentle with me."

She took a deep breath. "I can't guarantee anything, so you would be safer if I just go sleep in the guestroom."

He sighed. "But you're going crazy. I can see it in your eyes."

She swallowed and tried to push him away. "And being this close to you is making it worse."

He chuckled. "Then let me help," he told her as his hands drifted down her body. She whined and squirmed and he laughed.

XXX

Within a week, Kahlan seemed to finally reach an even keel and Hotch thought for the first time that things were finally getting back to normal. After two more weeks, all of the Hotchners agreed that Kahlan was back to herself. May ended and the kids got out of school and headed to camp, Hotch and the team were solving case after case, and Kahlan's job hadn't involved anything too over the top; Hotch thought the summer was getting off to a good start and they were all enjoying the time they spent with family and friends.

Thoughts of summer disappeared, though, as Hotch looked out the window of the little police station in Fort Yukon, Alaska. The little town had been the unfortunate receiver of several dead bodies as they washed up on the shores of the nearby Yukon River. At first, the local doctor, who also doubled as the ME, thought the victims had been tourists who had died accidently due to the river or Alaska's harsh conditions, but upon closer examination, he knew they had all been the victims of murder. The small local police force contacted the state police, and they had contacted the BAU.

Hotch sighed and then a shiver ran through him. A nasty spring storm had hit a little after the jet had touched down, and the snow was piling up quickly. He sent the team to gather as much information as they could because the local sheriff warned them that the storm would probably bring everything to a halt for a few days and Hotch wanted them to be able to work on something at the hotel.

He had actually been surprised to find a decent hotel, but the proprietor assured them that Fort Yukon, while small, had quite a few tourists due to the river. Hotch and Rossi went to ME, and Hotch was, again, impressed. The town doctor turned out to be a retired army doctor and a lot more knowledgeable than both Hotch and Rossi had been expecting. Rossi laughed as Hotch pulled up in front of a small, closed grocery store. Hotch looked at him. "Shut up. It was the only place with a cooler big enough to hold all the bodies. At least they're all in one place."

Rossi nodded. "Although, with this weather, they probably could have left them outside."

Hotch shook his head and went in search of the doctor.

XXX

By nightfall, the team was in the hotel and it was obvious they wouldn't be going anywhere in the morning. They were all complaining about the cold because none of them had been prepared for such a drastic change from the mid-eighty weather they had been experiencing in Virginia, so Hotch sent them all to their rooms with plans of meeting in the hotel's only conference room in the morning to go over everything.

As he walked to his room, he prayed the hotel's hot water tank would supply them all because he knew a hot shower was on all of their minds. He made his way into his room and shivered again, the heat had been cut off. He huffed and made his way over to the heater in the wall and turned it on high. _It's your luck that you would have to get stuck in the only snow storm in the US in June._ He sighed and opened his go bag to get pajamas. For the last month, he had been packing shorts instead of sweats, and now he regretted it. He shook his head as he dug through his clothes but a smile slowly formed on his face. _God I love you, Babe._

He sat down on the bed, took out his phone, and called his wife. He knew it was late back home, but he knew Kahlan didn't mind.

"Hey, Hun."

"I love you," he told her immediately.

She giggled. "And I love you."

"No seriously. Have you seen the weather here?"

"No, why?"

"Because it's snowing so bad that we will probably be trapped in the hotel for one day at least."

She laughed. "And it's supposed to be 87 here tomorrow. I was thinking about working on my tan."

"Ok, I take it back, I hate you."

She giggled again.

"I want to thank you for packing my bag."

"Oh," she drew out as she finally understood. "While I don't remember living there, I do remember Dad saying how fast the weather could change. I couldn't have you getting sick."

"When I saw my sweats and my pullovers, I wanted to kiss you. I have been freezing my ass off all day. I didn't even bring a coat."

"Hun!"

"I know, but after the last month, I took my spare one off the jet. I didn't think I would need it." She tisked and he could imagine her shaking her head at him. "I don't think any of us have a coat."

"Do they have some place for you all to buy them?"

He laughed. "The town has a population of under 600, Babe, so, no, they do not have a superstore."

"Well, try to keep them out of the cold as much as possible. God, as skinny as Reid is, he'll freeze solid."

He chuckled. "I'll do my best."

"Alright. Take a hot shower; that will help."

"That's where I was headed when I saw my clothes."

She giggled again. "Ok. I love you. Be safe and try to stay warm and dry. I really don't want to hear about you taking a dip in that river."

He shivered as he thought about it. "I can imagine how cold that water is."

She laughed.

"But I'll call you tomorrow. I love you, Babe."

"Yep. If you do get stuck, call me if you get bored. I get to spend the day doing reviews."

He laughed. "If you would fill them out as soon as you were done with the agent or cadet instead of waiting until they piled up, you wouldn't be stuck for a full day doing them," he pointed out.

"I know," she whined. "But you know how much I hate doing them."

He shook his head. "Alright. I'll talk to you later, Babe."

"Yep, and don't forget to email the kids."

"That's on the list, right after my hot shower."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

After being cooped up for two days in the hotel, the team was excited about finally being able to get out and do something with the case. Once they stepped out into the cold, though, they all started to rethink that. Hotch kept his smile to himself as he went to the SUV. Rossi looked over at him from the passenger seat. "I guess you're pretty snug in that fleece pullover, huh?"

Hotch chuckled as JJ and Reid moaned from the back. He looked over to Rossi with a grin. "I know how to pack."

Rossi huffed and reached over and turned the heat up to high. "And yet you don't have a coat either."

Hotch licked his lips as he pulled out to the parking lot.

Reid shivered and leaned forward. "Next time, may I suggest someone warm up the SUV before we actually leave?"

They had come up with a profile while in the hotel, and Garcia had traced down all the victims; they had all been visiting Alaska and had somehow ran across the unsub. Six people had been killed by either a knife or a small caliber gun; a couple had even been unfortunate enough to have been attacked with both weapons. The team knew they were looking for a hunter, but that didn't help a whole lot because almost everyone in Alaska was a hunter. They also knew by the wounds that the killer was left handed and that narrowed the unsub down a little, but the river had washed away any trace evidence. They weren't sure if that was done on purpose or if the river was just an effective dump site. The river was also causing another problem because of its tendency to be fast moving; they had no idea where the bodies had been put in the river to begin with. Reid had worked with whatever maps he could find, and what he came up with was that the dumpsite could have been anywhere within a hundred miles.

Hotch had shook his head. _Of course! Why is it that these little towns, which should make finding the unsub easier, turn out to be the toughest cases?_ His main plan that morning was to share the profile with the local police and start going through whatever list of possibles they could come up with.

XXX

By evening, the team had interviewed several people in several different places, but the only real result was that they were all freezing, again. Even Hotch was chilled because, since he was dressed the warmest, he had been elected to go outside the most. He was about to call it a night because he couldn't have entire team get sick when he felt a rush of cold air signaling someone had just walked into the station. Mack shivered. "I really wish we had a room a little farther away from the door."

Rossi laughed. "It's the only room they have."

"Yes. I'm looking for Agent Hotchner," Hotch heard a man say so he turned to see who had come in asking for him. He was shocked to see a man in military fatigues standing with the sheriff. The sheriff turned and pointed Hotch out. Hotch's brows furrowed as he went to the man and Rossi quickly followed him.

The man gave Hotch a grin and then hooked his thumb towards the door. "I have your delivery, Sir."

"Delivery?" Hotch asked with confusion in his eyes.

The man's brows furrowed as he looked Hotch over. "You are Agent Hotchner of the FBI?"

Hotch nodded. "Yes, but I don't know what you are talking about." He shot a look to Rossi, and he shrugged.

The man licked his lips. "I'm Sargent Wilks."

Hotch nodded. "Nice to meet you, but I still don't know anything about a delivery."

The man sighed. "They didn't tell you I was coming?"

Hotch studied him. "Who would 'they' be?"

"First Sargent Lane, Sir. He contacted me and told me. . ."

"Chuck Lane?" Rossi interrupted.

The man smiled. "Yes, Sir."

Rossi shot Hotch a look, and Hotch looked at the man. "And what is it you are delivering?"

The man motioned to the door so Hotch and Rossi followed him out to his Humvee. "First Sargent Lane said you all were up here and in need of supplies. I am sorry. I would have been here yesterday but the road was closed for part of the trip," he started to explain as he went to the passenger side of the military vehicle.

"Where are you stationed?" Rossi asked as they waited to see what the man had.

"Ft. Richardson outside Anchorage," he started as he opened the door and pulled out two coats. "We host the winter tactics and extreme weather survival school. First Sargent Lane has been with us several times," he continued as he handed a coat to each of them. They were light grey and white digitally camouflaged and as soon as Hotch grabbed it, he could tell it would protect him from the weather. "I have one for each member of your team. I also have gloves and boots if needed."

Rossi put the coat on and chuckled. "Remind me to buy Chuck a beer when we get back."

Hotch looked at Sargent Wilks. "So Chuck gives you a call and you just travel 400 miles to do his bidding?"

The man smiled. "It wasn't exactly like that, but, yes, Sir."

Hotch took a deep breath and then bit back the cough that wanted to escape as the cold air caught in his lungs. "Do you also know Kahlan. . . Williams?"

"Major Williams? Yes, Sir!"

Hotch's eyes cut to Rossi for a split second. _What the hell?_ "Black hair, blue eyes?" Hotch wanted to clarify.

"Yes, Sir. Major Williams and First Sargent Lane are a normal duo. You know Major Williams, too?"

Hotch nodded but Rossi grinned. "She's his wife."

The man's brows rose. "Well, then, now I am doubly happy to have been able to help."

Hotch looked in the vehicle and then to Rossi. "Go get the team."

Rossi nodded and went back inside. Sargent Wilks leaned in to Hotch a little closer. "Ask Major Williams about green apples one time," he told him with a grin.

"Green apples?" Hotch asked as he studied him.

The man laughed. "Funniest thing ever!"

Hotch couldn't imagine what that was about, but he used the privacy to find out a little more about his wife. "How long have you known them?"

The man bit his lip. "They were here when I was first stationed at Richardson. . . I guess about twenty five, twenty seven years. I haven't seen them for a while, but First Sargent Lane keeps in touch through email and such. His Delta team has done a lot of training up here."

"And what is it that you think Kah. . . Major Williams did for the army?"

The man gave him a knowing look and then chuckled. "Officially or what we speculated about?"

Hotch grinned.

Wilks got closer. "Even though her dossier said she was part of the intelligence unit, we knew she was spec ops."

Hotch gave him a look. "Special Forces in the military are closed to women."

Wilks nodded. "Yes, Sir, they are."

Hotch appraised him and he could understand why Kahlan and Chuck liked him.

"So you must know Sargent Stillman, too?"

Hotch nodded. "Yes, the three musketeers are still together."

Wilkes grinned from ear to ear. "Things were never boring when they were around, that's for sure."

The team came out and Wilks passed out coats and gloves to each of them. JJ put hers on and zipped it up and then tugged on it. Wilks looked at her. "They are supposed to fit a little big, Ma'am. The pocket of air inside helps to insulate them."

JJ smiled as she accepted a pair of thin gloves. She looked at them skeptically. "These will keep us warm?"

"It's the latest in thinsulate, Ma'am. Not one case of frostbite has been reported when these have been worn." He looked at the whole team. "They are small enough to allow them to be worn when handling a weapon."

"Are we supposed to bring them back to you when we're done?" Hotch asked him.

He shook his head and pulled a clipboard out of the front seat. "No, Sir. All the necessary paperwork had been filed. These items have been officially requisitioned and allotted from the US army to the FBI. I just need your signature here and here," he told him as he pointed out the places on the form. "They are yours to do with as you want with, but in my opinion, they should be kept for when and if you're ever up this far north again. They'll last you the rest of your careers."

Hotch took the clip board and offered pen and then signed for the items as the team thanked Wilks and started heading back in. Hotch handed the clip board back. "Thank you," Hotch told him as he offered his hand.

Wilks shook it and grinned. "No need to thank me, Agent Hotchner. I owed it to First Sargent Lane, and it was an honor to meet Major Williams' husband."

XXX

That night, when Hotch called home, he had a smile on his face and thanked Kahlan as soon as the call connected.

"That was all Chuck. I was trying to figure out a way to get your all's coats to you. I knew I could ship them by air, but that would just take them to Anchorage, and the man couldn't even tell me how long it would take them to get from there to where you all are. Well, Chuck overheard and decided to call a buddy of his."

"I see. Sargent Wilks really likes Major Williams, Sargent Stillman, and First Sargent Lane."

He heard her suck in her breath. "He's still there?" she asked.

"Yep."

"Oh God," she groaned under her breath.

"You weren't actually in the army, were you?"

She giggled. "Not officially."

He shook his head. "What other branches were you in unofficially?"

"I've never worked with the Coast Guard."

He snorted. "I so want to read your memoirs."

She laughed. "It could never be released; too much of it would be highly classified."

He laughed. "Wilks said to ask you about green apples. What's that about?"

"Oh my God! He didn't!"

"He did." When she didn't start he cleared his throat. "I'm waiting, Mrs. Hotchner, or should I call you Major?"

"Shut up, Aaron!"

He laughed again. "I guess I will just have to call him or Chuck. I'm sure one of them would share."

She laughed. "Chuck wouldn't."

He licked his lips. "Then I'll call Wilks. I'm sure he has a lot of stories. . ."

"Alright!" she exclaimed. "I promise to tell you about it when you get home."

He smiled. "Alright. I better get off of here. Hopefully we get a break in the case tomorrow now that everyone can concentrate on it instead of the cold."

She smiled. "Then goodnight, I love you, stay warm, and stay safe."

"I love you, too, Babe. Goodnight."

XXX

The coats didn't do them much good the next day because they woke up to another storm hitting and they couldn't leave the hotel, again. The storm ended up lasting the whole day and next night, and they got trapped in the hotel for two full days. Thankfully, Garcia and her computers back home where not hampered by the weather and she used the satellites to track any movement with Cam's help, and they caught the unsub in action. It was only a thermal image, though, so they had no idea who it was. They did know where he was and that he was using a snowmobile to get around, and they all watched in horror as he dumped another body into the river.

Morgan slammed a fist down on the table. "Damn it!"

"I know the police have snowmobiles. Why can't we see if we can round up a few more and go after this son of a bitch?" Mack asked him.

Rossi smiled. "He definitely wouldn't expect us right after this storm."

Hotch considered them for a few moments and then looked at the rest of team. They all nodded their agreement, so he stood up. "JJ, call Sheriff Jones and see what you can get us. Rossi, you go talk to the hotel owner; she likes you, and she may know someone who can loan us a few snowmobiles, too." They both nodded and got up to do as they were told. "The rest of you, go get clothes and such ready. If we can get the snowmobiles, we need to move fast."

XXX

They got the snowmobiles and got their unsub. They had actually surprised him and caught him in the act of trying to kill another man. The victim was wounded badly from knife wounds, but he would survive. By the time they got back to the station, though, another storm was hitting, and Hotch shook his head. The locals were saying it was going to be the worse one yet, and he knew they'd be stuck there for a couple more days at least.

With the snowmobiles to get back to the hotel with, Hotch went ahead and had Morgan and Mack interrogate their unsub, and it turned out that Mr. Paul Wolff was certifiably insane. He told them stories about how God told him that he had to rid the world of the horrible people who were hurting the earth. When Mack asked him how the people had been hurting the earth, he told her about how he had found one building a fire, one fishing, and so on. After about twenty minutes, Morgan and Mack gave up trying to make sense of it all, but he had confessed to killing each of the victims. They had also found every victim's driver's license in his backpack.

Hotch ran a hand down his face. When someone was that far gone from reality, there wasn't a whole lot that could be done with them. He let the locals take care of getting the state police to take the man and get him to whatever facility the state deemed necessary, and then he rounded up his team and they went back to the hotel to wait out the storm.

XXX

The storm finally let up two days later, but when Hotch talked to the pilot, Hotch's mood sank. The weather was good enough to fly, but it would take two more days to clear the runway for the jet to actually be able to land and pick them up. He sighed and then went and shared the news with the team.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

By the time Hotch finally got home, he had been gone for eleven days. He was sweating by the time he made it from the tarmac to his house, too, because his body had started getting acclimated to the cold up in Alaska and the 80 plus degrees in Virginia seemed way too hot at that moment.

He opened the door to his house as silently as possible. It was already after midnight and he didn't want to wake Kahlan up. The house was dark except for a small light on in the kitchen above the stove and as soon as he sat his briefcase down and went to turn to lock the door, he was grabbed and he about jumped back out the door.

"Jesus Christ, Kahlan!" he yelled and then cringed at being so loud. His heart was pounding. "I didn't even see you!" He finally noticed she was in her black pajamas, and he shook his head.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled into his chest.

She had her arms wrapped around him so tightly that he almost couldn't breathe, and he knew something was wrong because she never acted like that. "Babe?" he asked as he tried to pull back but she wouldn't ease up. He started to wonder if her pills had revved her up again.

"Just be still. I need a minute," she told him as she squeezed him even harder.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her as he silently let her take all the time she needed.

After several minutes and several deep breaths, she finally let up enough to pull back and look him in the eyes. When he saw unshed tears, his heart clenched. "What's wrong?"

"I missed you," she told him and then leaned up and gave him a quick kiss.

Once she pulled away, he chuckled. "I missed you, too." She didn't look any more relaxed, though, so he took her face in his gentle hands. "What?"

She took a shuddering breath. "That's the longest you've been gone since. . ." She sighed and shook her head. "Sorry."

He gave her a smile. "I'm sorry I was gone so long."

She pulled him back and nestled into his chest. "The next time you're gone that long I'm going to meet you no matter how bad the case is, the weather is, or anything is. Even if all I get is five minutes, it'll be better than nothing."

He chuckled. "I talked to you several times a day most days, Babe."

"I know, but it's not the same as actually seeing you and touching you."

"Well, you get me all day tomorrow if that helps any."

She pulled back in surprise. "Yeah?"

"Yes."

She pulled away from him and grabbed his hand and pulled him into the house more. "And I'm not letting you out of my sight!"

He chuckled again as he reached back and locked the door and grabbed his briefcase before it was out of reach.

She led him up to their bedroom and then turned to him and helped him out of his clothes. "I didn't even want to consider having to sleep alone one more night."

He took a deep breath. "I'm actually really tired, Babe," he confessed as he pulled on his shorts. He had spent the long jet ride back catching up on consults that Garcia had sent with the jet so he could enjoy his day off.

She gave him a small smile. "I just want to snuggle."

He gave her both dimples as he pulled her to his chest. "I can do that."

"Good," she told him and then went to the bed and pulled the covers back and waited for him to get in and then curled up to his side, and he reached over and shut off the light on his nightstand. They were both out in no time.

XXX

Hotch awoke to his wife still in his arms and it being way too late for her to still be in bed. He jumped up. "Shit, Babe, it's after eleven!"

She sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Calm down. I was already up and called Chuck and told him I was staying home. Then I curled back up to you."

"Oh," he breathed as the tension left his shoulders and he laid back down. "Well then, come back here," he told her with a smile and lifted his arm up in invitation. She smiled and snuggled back into her spot and he reached up and moved her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. He smiled when he felt her smile against his bare chest. "We haven't got to sleep in together in a long time."

"Nope, and it sure feels good."

He chuckled. "Yes, yes it does."

His stomach growled and she giggled. "You want me to make you breakfast?"

He sighed. "I guess we should get up." He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Unless you can think of something else for us to do," he told her slyly.

She giggled as she turned and looked at him. "Oh, I think I could think of something to do with you," she told him as she crawled up and planted her lips on his. "We are in a kid free house."

"I know, and I'm not tired anymore," he told her with a grin as he pulled her on top of him.

XXX

After spending most of the morning refamiliarizing themselves with one another, they took a shower and then made breakfast together. Hotch looked at Kahlan as he cooked the eggs. "So what's this about green apples?"

She ducked her head as her cheeks reddened.

He raised his brows. "Wow! It must be some story."

She shook her head. "That was when I was young and cocky."

"And it still embarrasses you?"

"Not me per say, but after doing it and thinking about it. . . I know I shouldn't have."

He scraped the eggs onto two plates and turned to her. "I'm waiting."

She grabbed their mugs after putting toast on the plates and moved to the island. He followed and sat down beside her. She took a deep breath and shook her head. "You know he story about William Tell, right?"

His brows rose in shock. "You actually shot an apple off of someone's head?"

She winced and then took a bite of her breakfast. Once she swallowed, she grabbed her coffee, but Hotch stopped her by placing his hand over it and holding it down. She licked her lips. "We were up at Fort Richardson, Chuck, Cam, and I, with some other people from a couple other groups. There was this group of Rangers up there and this arrogant Captain was their team leader." She took a deep breath. "Well, he was one of those misogynistic bastards who thought a woman's place was in the kitchen." Hotch winced as he started eating; he could see where the story was headed.

"Anyway, he was supposedly known for his marksmanship with both a gun and a bow. One day, he and Chuck got into it; I'm not even sure what got them started, but it ended with him challenging Chuck to a contest to see who the best shot was." She took a bite and then a drink and then continued. "It was pretty even. Chuck beat him on a couple targets, but he beat Chuck on a couple, so the whole thing got blown out of proportion and their teams got pulled in on it." She took another drink. "Chuck boasted that I could beat his whole team combined, and he laughed."

Hotch cleared his throat. "And what was the weapon he was referring to?"

She shrugged. "I don't even know, but someone brought out a crossbow."

Hotch chuckled.

"Chuck told him he'd prove I was the best. He had this damn green apple in his pocket, took it out, placed it on his head, and told me to take it off." She sighed. "The Captain laughed and said there was no way he would ever trust a woman to do that if he was under the apple." She shook her head. "And that pissed Chuck off."

Hotch smiled as he chewed. _Wilks said it was never boring with them around. I would have loved to have seen it._ He wiped his mouth off. "I can imagine it pissed you off, too."

She drooped a little. "Maybe."

He chuckled. "Go on."

"Well, Chuck called Wilks, and he brought up a whole damn bucket of apples. Chuck put them around all over everything. He was perching them in the trees, on the vehicles. . ." She shook her head again. "In just ridiculous places."

Hotch took a drink of his coffee as he studied her; she had that mischievous glint in her eye that he loved so much. "And?"

She took a deep breath. "Then he gave the Captain the crossbow and told him to take out five of the apples if he could." She giggled. "By then, I think the whole damn base had come out to watch." She shook her head. "He took the bow and did it, but it was obvious to everyone that he had chosen the five easiest targets." She took a drink. "Then the asshole handed me the bow with this look. . . Like he was telling me to go ahead and make an ass out of myself. . ." The side of her lip curled. "And it pissed me off."

Hotch laughed.

"Then the asshole told everyone to back up so they didn't get hit by an errant shot!"

Hotch winced. He could imagine how mad she was with as mad as it was still making her twenty some years later.

"So Wilks got his buddies to stand next to the apples. They moved in to where I would have had to shoot under an arm, over a leg. . . It was crazy. The Captain tried telling them that they were making the shots ten times harder and putting themselves in danger, but Wilks and his guys just blew him off."

Hotch put his fork down and picked up his mug. "I would have loved to seen it."

She smiled and Hotch could see the evil in her eyes. "Wilks' guys weren't the ones in danger."

Hotch brows furrowed as he studied her.

She giggled her evil giggle. "Those damn rangers couldn't even see that Chuck had put the apples in positions right in front of each of them."

Hotch almost choked on his own breath. "Babe!"

She shrugged. "You should have seen their faces. By the time I got to the fifth shot, the first guy didn't even have time to react."

He took a deep breath. "So you missed the apples and hit them?"

She giggled again. "I didn't miss the apples." His brows furrowed, and she laughed. "But they all were stuck to what they were standing next to with a bolt stuck through a part of their uniform that had an apple on the end of it." She giggled. "Wilks laughed and said 'they had been told!'"

Hotch laughed. "That was a great play on words!"

"Most of them didn't get it, and Chuck had to explain the whole William Tell – told thing. I still don't think some of them understood."

Hotch laughed a little more and then looked at her. "So what did the Captain have to say after that?" he asked with a grin and then took a drink.

She quirked her brows as she smiled slyly. "Not a whole lot. He suddenly couldn't find his voice as he looked down at the bolt stuck in the crotch of pants."

Coffee spewed out of Hotch's mouth. "Oh my God! You didn't!"

She shrugged. "I did," she told him and started eating again.

He shook his head as he wiped up his mess and was glad he had finished eating because his plate had caught most of the coffee.

She smiled. "They thought I didn't take into consideration how short the bolts were and how big the apples were."

Hotch's eyes widened. "The apple hit him?"

She shrugged. "I would think so with the way he walked afterwards, but he wouldn't admit it."

He shook his head. "How fast does a bolt travel?"

She grinned. "About 320-350 feet per second."

He paled. "Jesus Christ, Babe!" It didn't want to imagine how that would have hurt, but it was too late.

"He deserved it!"

He snorted and shook his head again. "So, I bet he didn't give you all any problems after that, did he?"

"They left pretty quickly after that. Wilks later said he never came back."

He took her hand in his. "Sometimes I think I would have loved to have known you back then, but others. . . I think you would have scared the hell out of me."

She giggled and leaned into his shoulder. "I was only mean to people who deserved it."

He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

XXX

After a quick case, Hotch was home in time to welcome the kids back from camp, and they all took a day and went to the beach. Kahlan laughed from the blanket she was laying on as she watched her husband playing with the kids in the waves. They all loved going to the beach.

After a while, she screamed as she jumped up. She had been lying on her stomach and had heard Hotch come up, but he shook his head over her back and the cold water had shocked her sun warmed skin. She gave him a look. "You little shit!"

"Ut-oh," he yelled and took off running, and she took off after him. The kids laughed as Kahlan launched herself and tackled him into the water. They both had gone under and they sputtered as they stood up and Kahlan wiped the hair out of her face as Hotch laughed. Then they were both knocked over by a big wave neither one of them saw. After Hotch got his feet under him, he helped right her and they both laughed as he pulled her to his chest. He looked her in the eyes. "I love you."

She smiled. "I love you, too, Hun."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

A couple weeks after their beach day, Hotch was up in his room getting ready for a very important date. He ran a nervous hand down his tie and then buttoned his vest up. Then he took a deep breath and put on a jacket. He breathed in through his nose as he checked his reflection in the mirror. A few stubborn hairs sticking up on the crown of his head made him run his fingers through his hair to try and tame them. With a smirk at his success, he turned and started for his bedroom door as his heart sped up even more. He stopped with his hand on the knob. _Get a grip, Hotchner! Damn. Why are you so nervous?_ He took a deep breath and went down stairs.

Kahlan bit her bottom lip as she took in her husband. His black tux with black vest over a lime green tie made him look beyond dashing. He held out his hands to the side seeking approval. She shook her head. "I don't know, Hun," she started as she circled him. He stood still and let her check him out, and each second that went by made him even more nervous. She sucked her breath in between teeth as she stopped behind him and then leaned up towards his head. "If I had my way. . . I wouldn't let you out of the house," she whispered into his ear.

He chuckled and flinched away from her hot breath. "So I look alright?" he asked seriously as he turned to her.

She smiled. "You'll be the most handsome man there."

He beamed.

"Well. . . once I take care of these. . ." she started and then tried to get the same hairs he had messed with to lay back down on his head. She laughed when they popped right back up. "I told you not to get it cut today."

He wilted.

"But it's fine! They won't even be able to see it in the dark," she tried because she could see the disappointment in his eyes and she felt horrible for saying it. She put her arms around his neck. "You look perfect, Aaron."

He perked back up a little and his eyes were drawn to the stairs. His breath hitched in his chest as a massive smile revealed his dimples. Three quick strides and he was standing at the bottom as he looked at the other female he loved more than life itself. He looked her up and down and then shook his head. "Alright, who are you and what have you done with my daughter?"

Joey giggled as she ducked her head and her cheeks turned pink. Her lime green dress matched his tie perfectly. "You like it?" she asked as she held out the sides of the dress.

He quirked his lips and then shook his head. "No, Angel. I'm sorry. . ." he started and her smiled slowly started to fade away. "I don't like it," he finished and took the last step to get closer to her. "I love it! You look absolutely beautiful!" he told her as his eyes watered proudly. He sniffed and then held out his hand and she beamed. "Would Ma' lady do me the honor of accompanying me to the Parent- Student Dance?" he asked as he bowed dramatically.

She giggled and grabbed his hand. "But of course, Ma' Lord."

He picked her up and spun her around as they both laughed.

"Hold it," Kahlan told them as she readied her camera. Hotch stilled and Joey wrapped her arm around his neck and Kahlan smiled as she took a picture. "You two will be the best looking couple there."

Hotch and Joey grinned at each other. "You ready, Daddy?"

Hotch set her back on her feet and knelt down in front of her. "Not yet," he started and then took a long thin box out of his back pocket. He opened it and held it out. "You're missing something." Joey's eyes sparkled as she looked at the silver charm bracelet. Hotch took it out and showed her the only two charms that were on it.

Joey's eyes watered as she looked at the little charm that said 'Daddy's Little Girl' and another two toned one that represented him and her. She held out her wrist and let him fasten it on her. As soon as he was done, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged his neck. "Thank you, Daddy, I love it!"

"That's the type that can be added to over the years," Kahlan told her as she locked eyes with her daughter.

Joey gave her a smile as she nodded and then pulled back. "Can we go now?"

Hotch chuckled and stood up. "What Ma' Lady wants, she gets."

Joey's dimples emerged as she grabbed his hand. Kahlan moved in and kissed him on the lips and then Joey on the cheek. "Have a wonderful time," she told them both and then fixed Joey with a serious look. "You better take care of my man."

"Of course," Joey assured her with a grin that made her look just like her father and then pulled him out the door as Kahlan giggled.

XXX

Hotch held Joey's hand as they entered the gym at her school. It was the first time the school had put on a dance like that, and they did it during the summer because they had been updating their gym all year. Joey's eyes grew wide as she looked around and Hotch smiled. It was decorated as if it was prom and the theme was 'An Evening Under the Stars'. Joey tugged on his pants and he looked down at her. She smiled as she pointed up at the ceiling; it was covered with strands of little white lights to represent the stars. He smiled as they made their way in and took a deep breath as he looked around. Joey's school wasn't big and it only went to the fifth grade, but with the amount of people there; Hotch figured that every student was in attendance.

They made their way to where the photos were being taken and he got down on one knee and put his arm around her and the picture captured both of their dimples perfectly. Joey grinned as she looked at the monitor. "Mommy's going to love that."

Hotch nodded. "Yes she is, but not as much as me," he told her as he squeezed her.

She beamed and grabbed his hand and pulled on him. "Come on, Daddy. I want to dance."

He chuckled as she led him to the middle of the floor. "You're just like your mother."

XXX

After a few songs, the DJ told all of the fathers to grab their daughters, that the next song was dedicated to them. Hotch, of course, put down his plastic cup of punch and led Joey to the dance floor. When familiar music started, his grin grew from ear to ear and he pulled Joey close for the slow song as Tim McGraw's 'My Little Girl' melted out of the speakers. As soon as they started swaying, Joey looked up at him with so much love in her eyes that a huge lump formed in his throat. He tried to clear it, but it wouldn't go down. When the first chorus started, he lifted her up and placed her toes on his shoes, and he moved them around like they were they only one's there. By the second chorus, he had actually picked her up into his arms and held her close.

His heart clenched when the part about a boy asking for her hand came on, and as he sniffed to try and hold back tears, he looked around. He was sure that there wasn't a man there with dry eyes. Some even had tears streaming, and he was glad he wasn't the only one who had gotten a little emotional.

Joey pulled back and looked him in the eyes. "Aww, don't cry, Daddy. You know I will always love you most!"

And that broke him. He chuckled to cover up the sob that wanted to escape and squeezed her tightly. "And I will always love you better than any other man. Always remember that," he whispered into her hair.

She nodded against his neck. "I will, Daddy. Promise."

After the song, the women who were there with their son's chuckled and giggled and even laughed as all the men wiped their faces, but the DJ called them out onto the floor as the next song was dedicated from all of the boys to their mothers. He had them all crying, too, by the time Boyz II Men's 'A Song for Mama' finished. Hotch chuckled as he watched them leave the floor and then sighed because he could imagine how many tears Kahlan would have cried had she been there with Jack or Wyatt.

After about thirty minutes and some more punch and cookies, Hotch made his way to the DJ and then back to his daughter. She looked at him with suspicious eyes, and he smiled. "What?"

"What were you doing?"

He laughed. "You look more like you mother than me when you look at me like that."

She folded her arms across her chest and fixed him with her stare. "You didn't answer the question."

Hotch licked his lips and almost took a step back. "You'll see," he told her and took a drink to avoid looking at her. _Damn, Hotchner, you would think your own stare wouldn't affect you that badly._

She huffed and took a bite of a brownie. Hotch laughed and then pulled her onto his lap, and she giggled and settled in as they watched the people around them. After a few minutes, Hotch felt her tense slightly and he tried to see what had gotten her attention. When he finally saw it, his chest tightened; she was staring at a handsome, young, blonde boy across the room. He nudged her. "What's his name?"

She flinched then ducked her head in embarrassment at being caught. "Seth Markham," she mumbled as her eyes trailed back to the boy.

When her smile disappeared, Hotch's heart clenched at the disappointment written all over her face, and he turned to look at the boy again; he was surrounded by four little girls and they all seemed to be having a great conversation. "Why don't you go over and say hi?"

She shook her head and looked at him like he'd lost his mind, and he chuckled. When he heard a new song start, he jumped up and sat her down on the floor. "Come on," he urged as he took her to the dance floor. Her brows furrowed as he turned her and he was snapping along with the beat. He smiled and then bowed deeply. "My song to you, Ma'Lady," he told her as The Temptation's 'My Girl' started.

She listened to the lyrics and giggled as he had her spinning and turning and moving around as if they had been dancing together forever. When he noticed several people standing around watching them, his chest swelled. _My girl!_ It was obvious that Joey had inherited her dancing skills from both of her parents.

Once the song ended, he was a little winded and everyone clapped. He shot a look to Joey and they both bowed to more clapping, and then he scooped her up and hugged her. "I love you."

"I love you more!" she insisted as he carried her back to their table.

XXX

After a while, Hotch caught her staring at Seth again. He leaned in close. "Have you ever talked to him?" He thought Seth looked a little older than Joey, so he didn't think he was in her class.

She shook her head. "No. He wouldn't like me."

His brows furrowed as his heart ached, and he reached over and moved her chin to make her look at him. "Why would you ever say anything that crazy?"

She shrugged. "I'm not like them," she muttered as her eyes trailed back to the boy and the girls he was talking to. "They're pretty and fancy and. . . I'm not."

His breath hitched in his chest. "Angelique Josette! You are the prettiest girl here!"

She gave him a look. "You have to think that cause you're my daddy."

"Angel!" He sighed and moved her chair so she was facing him more directly. "You are, whether you believe me or not, but you know what? It's not what you are on the outside that's important. You are beautiful inside, too."

She lifted her chin. "I used to try playing with him at recess, but he just ignored me. He doesn't like me."

Hotch shook his head. _More like you intimate him because you're better at everything than he is. _He took a deep breath. "You may not like fancy dresses and sparkly clothes, but you are an amazing young woman, Angel, and if he can't see that, then he's the one missing out." When he looked at the boy again, Seth was looking at Joey; as soon as he noticed Hotch, though, he quickly turned away. Hotch bit back a huff. _You deserve to be scared. How dare you mess with my daughter's confidence!_ He looked at Seth again and waited until he caught his eyes and flashed him his stare. Even from across the room, he could see how hard Seth had swallowed, and Hotch held him with his look; Seth frozen in place. _Maybe I'll make sure Jack and Wyatt know what you've done to their little sister._

He shook his head and made himself look away from the boy. _Jesus Christ, Hotchner! He's what, eight, and you're thinking bad things about him? _He massaged his forehead. _I think Kahlan's wearing off on me a little too much._ He looked his daughter up and down. _No, it's just me and my love for her._ He smiled as he stood up. "I'll be right back," he told her and then leaned down and kissed her cheek.

She turned and watched him and shook her head when she sawing him going back up to the DJ.

As soon as the song that was playing ended and Hotch heard the start of the next one, he pulled Joey back onto the floor and squatted down and looked her in the eyes. "Listen to this song. Listen to it and let it sink into that stubborn head that you inherited from your mother." He wasn't about to admit to himself that she had inherited that from him, too.

She raised her brows, but he pulled her close and started dancing with her to Kenny Rogers' 'Beautiful, Is All that You Could Be' played. First she shook her head as she listened, then she giggled, and by the end she was hugged up to his legs so tightly and he thought that maybe she was crying. He picked her up and hugged her to his chest. "You know, the only guy's opinion that counts is mine, anyway, right?"

She giggled as she pulled back and looked at him. He wiped a tear from her cheek and she leaned in and gave him a butterfly kiss. "I love you, Daddy."

He smiled. "I love you, too, Angel."

*Songs and such are on the page


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Hotch and Joey were dancing to one of Joey's favorite songs, when a commotion by the door caught Hotch's attention. He froze in his tracks as soon as he saw the barrel end of a gun pointing in the air. When shots rang out, people screamed and kids started crying as everyone scattered, and Hotch grabbed Joey and moved off the dance floor toward the wall furthest from the door. A masked and armed man ran to the DJ and the music stopped; all that could be heard were parents trying to comfort their children in hushed tones. Hotch put Joey down and knelt down in front of her to shield her as the big lights in the ceiling started coming on one at a time.

"May I have your attention, please?" another mask man yelled as he stepped into the center of the room.

Hotch's eyes tried to take everything in at once as his hand went into his pocket and he pulled his phone out. He dialed it, waited for the answer and then put it on speaker as he hid it behind him on the floor hoping no one would see it.

"Hey, Hun," Kahlan answered joyfully. When she didn't get an answer she sat up straighter, and her chest tightened because she knew something was wrong. She snapped and pointed at the TV and Wyatt fumbled with the remote and muted it quickly as Kahlan's breath hitched in her chest. _Oh my God, No!_

"As long as you all do as you are told, no one will get hurt," the man in the middle continued.

His smug tone set Hotch on edge, and he instantly disliked the man.

"First we are going to. . ." he started again and an angry man to his right started yelling at him, telling him he had no business being there. The masked man turned and shot him once, right in the middle of the chest.

Hotch flinched. _Son of a bitch!_

Kahlan flinched at the sound and put her hand over the phone and looked at her boys. "Get Grandma and Grandpa, the team, and Uncle Chuck and Uncle Cam here, now!"

They quickly nodded and went into the next room to start calling and texting. She held her breath trying to get her heart to slow down so she could hear everything that was happening.

A little girl screamed and tried to go to the fallen man, but a woman quickly grabbed her and held her to her chest as she also held onto her son.

"Daddy?" Joey's shaky whisper came from behind him.

Hotch pushed himself back some more and sandwiched her between himself and the cinder block wall behind them. "Shhh, Joe," he urged as he reached back and his hand searched for hers. She grabbed his and they both gave each other a squeeze.

"Again. If you shut up and do as you are told, no one else will get hurt, but I hope you all now realize exactly how serious we are. The first thing you are going to do is empty your pockets," the man in the middle finished and then went back to his friends by the door. After talking to them, they quickly dispersed throughout the gym.

"I count six with M-5s, four with AKs, and the leader just has a Glock. Total of eleven," Hotch said aloud hoping that Kahlan could hear him.

Kahlan cringed as her eyes watered. _Please God! Please watch over them!_

Hotch watched in horror as the unsubs started actually searching people. _Shit!_ Joey leaned up close to his ear as she pressed her body against his. "Give it to me, Daddy," she whispered.

Hotch's head snapped around and he looked at her like she had lost her mind. "What?"

"You have your pistol on your ankle. Give it to me. They aren't searching the kids," she tried as both of their eyes kept trailing to the unsubs moving ever closer.

He sucked in his breath. "But. . ."

"I'll hide it. They'll never see me."

He shook his head. "No, I can't. . .

"If they find it on you they're gonna know you're an agent or think you're a cop or something. Please, Daddy!"

Hotch swallowed hard. _Shit! She does have a point! Why does she have to be so damn smart?_ He considered it for a second and then shook his head again. "No. If something happened. . ."

She fixed him with her stare. "You know I can do it."

"Aaron!" came Kahlan's hushed yell out of his phone. Hotch looked down at the phone and knew Kahlan agreed with Joey. His heart sped up even more, and he turned when apparently a man was caught trying to use his phone. The unsub used the butt of his rifle and hit him across the face and he went sliding across the floor.

"Daddy!" Joey urged as loudly as she thought she could.

He locked eyes with her and then looked down at the phone again. "Alright," he told her as he turned back around and moved his foot closer to her as he tried to shield what she was doing. Once he felt her remove the holster, he turned back. "They're getting close. Gotta go. We love you," he whispered and ended the call and slid his phone back into his pocket moments before an unsub motioned for him to stand up.

The man held out a cloth bag. "Put everything in here."

Hotch nodded and did as he was told and then mentally cringed as he thought about his badge in his back pocket. He left that pocket alone and emptied the rest hoping that they wouldn't pat him down hard enough to feel it. The man with the bag moved to the next person and the next unsub grabbed Hotch's shoulder and forced him to turn around as he ran his hands up and down him searching for anything Hotch may have been hiding. When his hands went over Hotch's back pockets, Hotch winced slightly, but then his brows furrowed when he could feel that there wasn't anything in his pocket. His eyes shot to Joey. She quickly hid the smile that had popped out and bit her lip as she focused on the floor.

Once that man was satisfied, he shoved Hotch to the wall. "Sit down!"

Hotch stopped himself from slamming into the wall and made his alpha behave as he quickly sat down and pulled Joey into his lap and wrapped protective arms around her. When the men moved further down the line, Hotch leaned forward and whispered into Joey's ear. "Thank you. Are you alright?"

She nodded as she watched the unsubs intently.

Hotch had no idea what she had done with his pistol or his badge and he wasn't about to ask her yet, but he had to bite back a chuckle as he saw the hem of shorts sticking out from under her dress. _Even dressed up you're still a tomboy._ He took a deep breath and tried not to think about all of the horrible things that could go wrong.

He cringed when he saw a man stand up. "I'm a doctor. Let me check him, please!" the man pleaded as he pointed the man was had been shot. The unsub closest to him look towards the leader and the leader nodded, so the guard motioned for the doctor to go ahead. Hotch watched and winced when it was obvious the man was dead, and his heart clenched when the dead man's daughter started crying even harder when the doctor took off his suit jacket and laid it gently over the man's head and chest and then made his way back to his own daughter and sat down beside her. Hotch licked his lips and tried to relax a little. _Come on, just do as you're told and we'll make it out of this alive._

**XXXXX**

Kahlan hadn't been able to get her heart to slow down since Hotch had ended the call. Her foot impatiently tapped the floor as she waited for Rossi and her mother to get there. Chuck, Morgan, JJ, and Reid had shown up and she had shared what she knew and they were all busy trying to find out all they could. Cam had turned around on his way over once he found out what was happening and headed him and Garcia to Garcia's lair. It was the closest and they were going to need every bit of computer help they could get.

When Kahlan heard a door slam in the driveway, she ran to the door. She was already dressed and ready to go, so she opened the door as soon as Cindi got to it, and Kahlan pulled her into a hug. "No time to talk. You have the boys," she told her as she pulled away and headed out with everyone following her. Rossi stopped dead in his tracks as his heart sped up. _Oh God, what now?_

Chuck ran and jumped in front of them all. "Come on, you can all ride with me," he told him as he headed to a big black SUV.

As soon as Kahlan slid into the back seat, Rossi slid in beside her and she told him what was going on. "Really? That man can't even spend time with his daughter without getting into trouble!"

Kahlan took a deep breath. "I don't think this has anything to do with him, for once."

Rossi huffed and shook his head.

Chuck answered his phone and put it on speaker; it was Cam and Garcia. "Looks like the police have been alerted to the school. Apparently a 911 call about armed men was cut off. That's all they have. You want me to tell. . ."

"No!" Kahlan and Rossi both shouted at the same time. "We do not need them knowing what's going on until we can secure the scene," Rossi added.

**XXXXX**

Hotch's head snapped towards the doors when he heard sirens approaching, and he took a deep breath. _And here we go._ He didn't like the way the unsubs didn't even seem nervous, though, and he squeezed Joey a little tighter. _They're expecting police involvement. What else are they expecting?_

He tensed when he saw that two of the unsubs had clipboards and started going around the room talking to each parent/child pair. _Shit! They're looking for specific people. What the hell is going on?_

Joey shifted in his lap and leaned back against his chest. Hotch took a deep breath and tried to calm his heart. He didn't want her to know how scared he really was.

When the unsubs finally got to them and asked them their names, Joey jumped up. "I'm Megan Tutle and this is my daddy, John."

Hotch mentally flinched. _What the hell?_

The unsub in front looked at Hotch. "Yeah? And what is it you do, Mr. Tutle?"

"He's a lawyer for really big corporations!" Joey said proudly.

The man eyed Hotch even harder, and Hotch's stomach clenched. He motioned for Hotch to stand up. "Then I guess you know what The Lanham Act is."

Hotch nodded and gave him an innocent grin. "It's the federal statute that governs trademarks, service marks, and unfair competition," he told him as he let a little cockiness seep into his tone and silently thanked God that he still remembered that from law school.

The man nodded and then looked Hotch up and down. Hotch was definitely dressed like a successful lawyer, finally he pointed to the floor. "Sit."

Hotch sat and grabbed Joey and pulled her into his lap.

Once the men had moved far enough away, he turned Joey and looked at her. Before he could say anything, she moved in close. "I'm sorry I lied; I know that's bad, but I know my file says that you're in the FBI," she told him as her eyes watered.

He licked his lips and shook his head. "No. It's ok. That was a very smart move. I'm proud of you." She beamed, and Hotch looked around. "Apparently Megan and her father aren't here?"

She shook her head. "No. Her parents have been arguing a lot lately."

He cringed. "Do all of your friends know what I do?"

She wilted. "Yes," she started shamefully. "It's just. . . Well, I brag about you a lot."

He smiled in spite of the situation. "Do you think they will say anything?"

She pursed her lips as she thought about it. "I don't think so. My close friends are pretty smart."

He chuckled. "Not as smart as you, I bet." She giggled and then they both turned as they heard a commotion. The unsubs had pulled a woman and her son away from the wall. Hotch took a deep breath. _Apparently they found someone they were looking for, but they don't know what they look like. Hmm. . ._

By the time the unsubs had made it through the whole gym they had several parent-student pairs singled out and had moved them to one wall as they moved the others away from them. Hotch leaned into Joey. "You know any of those kids?"

She studied the group. "A couple."

"And what do their parents do?"

She cringed. "Toby, the boy in the tan suit, his mom's a senator. Abby's dad works at the pentagon. I'm not really sure what Justin's mom does, but I know it's something in the government."

Hotch took a deep and leaned his back up against the wall. _So this is political. Son of a bitch!_

"But Tommy's mom and Stephanie's dad are cops," Joey continued.

Hotch studied the group a little more. _They're pulling out anyone who might be a threat, too. Thank you, God, for making Joey smart enough to keep me out of that group._ The unsubs were watching that group of people a lot closer than they were watching Hotch and the others.

**XXXXX**

By the time Kahlan and them had gotten to the school, the scene was in utter chaos. She shook her head as they all went in search of who was in charge. Rossi pulled on her arm and pointed to a table surrounded by people in suits. She nodded and they headed over.

A man looked up and saw them approaching. "Who and the hell let civilians in here? Damn it! I want the perimeter secured!"

Kahlan rolled her eyes as Rossi pushed his way in front of her. "We are not civilians," he started as he took out his badge and showed them. "We are the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit."

The man appraised him. "That's all fine and dandy, but I don't think anyone called for a BAU. We have things under control."

Kahlan licked her lips and tried to keep her anger in check as she approached the table a little more closely. "Really? What is it you think you're dealing with?"

The man looked at her, and she could tell they had no idea yet. He held his chin up. "We have the lead on this. If you all behave, we'll let you stay."

Her hand balled into a fist and Rossi put a restraining hand on her arm. "And who are you?" she asked not so nicely.

He stood up and squared his shoulders. "Agent Colson of the Secret Service, and if you don't mind, I have work to do," he told her and then turned back to the man beside him effectively blowing Kahlan and them off.

Kahlan tensed, but Rossi pulled her back. "They have the lead. Let's just go over here and be available if they need us."

Kahlan studied him and then took a deep breath and let him lead her away.

Once they were far enough away from everyone, they circled up. "Secret Service? What the hell is that about?" Morgan asked the group.

Kahlan shook her head in disgust. "A few parents are in congress," she offered. "And I know several of them work for the government and such. Do you think this is political?"

"Do you think they know Hotch is FBI?" JJ asked her.

Kahlan looked at her. "Who? Those idiots over there?"

JJ shook her head. "No the unsubs."

"I would think that if they know what one parent does then they know what all the parents do," Reid offered.

Kahlan cringed. "Whether they knew going in or not, all they'd have to do is look in the kids' files and they'll have all the information they need," she told them as her eyes trailed to the school. _Please, God. Please keep them safe._


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Hotch watched as an unsub approached the man Hotch thought was the leader. They talked for a few moments and then the man went into the hallway that led to the rest of the school. Hotch looked around. _Shit! That makes three gone. What the hell are they doing?_ He took a deep breath and stretched his legs out. He wasn't used to sitting cross-legged on the floor.

When the roaming man who was keeping an eye on Hotch's wall of people got close, Joey stood up and before Hotch could pull her back down she stepped closer to the armed man. "May I get a drink from the fountain?" she asked him as she pointed to a water fountain on the wall in a little recess not too far from where Hotch was sitting.

The man looked towards the fountain and then looked at Joey. "Hurry up!"

Joey nodded as she cut her eyes to the side and a little boy jumped up. "Me, too? I'm really thirsty."

Hotch mentally cringed because he knew the little boy; Billy Stetson was Joey's best friend and cohort in every devious thing she had ever done at school and in the neighborhood. Then a little girl jumped up. "May I, too?" she asked as she raised her hand as if in class. Hotch mentally shook his head because that rounded out the three musketeers; the little girl was Joey's other best friend Madeline Perry, aka Maddie. He held his breath. _I swear, child you are going to be the death of me. _

The man looked at all the kids as Billy's and Maddie's parents' eyes met with Hotch's, and Hotch could tell they were all thinking the same thing. _Please don't let them do anything to get them in trouble._

"Alright. Three at a time and hurry up! No parents, though!"

All three of the kids ran to the fountain and Hotch mentally winced because he couldn't see them once they went into the little recess. _Come on, Joe, behave. Please!_

Within moments, all three kids came back and went to their respective parents without a word and three other kids got up to go. Hotch didn't know them, so he figured they were just kids with dry mouths. He licked his lips. He could use a drink, too, but it was obvious that the unsubs didn't want the parents to do anything. He took a deep breath and pulled Joey close. "What did you do?"

She giggled and turned and hugged his neck. "There's a little nook, shelf type place, on the inside of the bottom right of the fountain. We use it to pass messages and stuff to each other," she started to explain. "I hid your pistol and badge in there in case they split us up or something," she whispered into his ear.

He smiled as he pushed her away and looked her in the eyes. "You are too smart."

She beamed. "And Billy and Maddie wanted to know what you were going to do."

He took a deep breath. "Angel, I. . ."

"I told them you couldn't do anything. That it would be too dangerous," she assured him quickly.

He pulled her to his chest. "My first priority is you and every other kid in this gym. I will do all I can to keep you all safe."

She nodded against his neck. "I know, Daddy."

**XXXXX**

Kahlan tensed when she saw DC SWAT vehicles come into the parking lot. She looked at Mack who had met them there. "Did you call Sam?"

Mack shook her head as she watched the newcomers. "No."

Rossi watched two of the Secret Service agents quickly go to the SWAT team. "Maybe they called them in because they have worked with each other before." Rossi gave Mack a look and she nodded and headed over to find her fiancé and some answers.

Kahlan took a deep breath and then stood up as she saw Michaela running towards her. The young woman slid to a stop, opened the laptop in her hands, and then handed it to Kahlan. "Cam's in."

Kahlan grinned and sat the laptop down on the hood of the SUV she had been leaning up against. They all gathered around as Garcia's voice came through the laptop speakers. "Looks like they got everyone in the gym. At first we didn't see all eleven unsubs, but after searching the school, we found one in the office, one in the records room, and one roaming the halls," she explained as the screen shifted into four different windows each showing the unsubs on their own and the gym.

"And in my opinion, these men looked organized and well-armed," Cam added.

Kahlan nodded as if they could see her. "Look at the way the men in the gym move. This is a highly trained group who has worked together for a while not some ragtag group of misfits."

Rossi studied the screen and he and Morgan both nodded their agreements. JJ looked at them. "So they're professionals. What do you think they want?"

"Could this be a ransom thing?" Reid asked as he looked at the group. They all knew Joey's school was not cheap.

Kahlan's brows furrowed as she considered it and looked at the screen. "I don't think so. See how there are more guards around that group of people?"

"They've singled people out. Kitten, see if you can identify who those people are along the right wall," Rossi told the computer.

"On the double!" she agreed and they could hear her penalizing the keys on her keyboard.

"Hotch isn't in that group. That's a good sign. Maybe they don't know who he is," Morgan suggested.

Kahlan nodded as she frowned. "You don't have sound, Cam?"

"No, sorry. The only place with sound is the office cameras, and that unsub isn't saying anything."

"Have they made contact?" JJ asked.

"Not that we can tell," Garcia told them.

Rossi ran a hand down his goatee. "Has the Service tried to contact them?"

"Yes," Cam started. "They have been calling the main school line every five minutes."

Chuck came up with a grin on his face. "Listen to this," he told them all as he held up a hand radio. They all stilled and listened to the unsubs talking back and forth with each other.

Kahlan grinned. "I love you."

He grinned. "All I did was search through the special frequencies until I heard something that sounded like them."

Mack came running up in a rush looking completely pissed. "They're planning on going in, right in through the main doors of the gym!"

"What?!" most of them screamed at the same time.

Mack nodded. "The Secret Service is preparing a plan with SWAT. They want to go in since they haven't gotten any response from the unsubs."

Rossi shook his head in disgust. "Do they know they are up against eleven heavily armed men who are holding over a hundred people hostage and half of them are children?"

Mack cringed. "They don't know a forth of what's really going on. I was going to tell Sam. . . but I know he's just following orders and I wasn't sure what you all wanted me to share."

Kahlan cracked her neck and started towards the Secret Service, and Rossi grabbed her shoulder. "Where are you going?"

"To put a stop to this."

"They officially have rank here."

She gave him a look. "Not anymore they don't!" she told him and pulled out of his grasp.

Chuck looked at the group and smiled. "I was wondering how long that was going to take," he told them and ran to catch up with Kahlan with Michaela right on his heels.

The whole team looked at Rossi. He shrugged. "I have no idea," he offered and they all moved to follow Kahlan, too.

"Maybe they have Secret Service badges," Reid offered as he grabbed the laptop and brought up the rear.

**XXXXX**

Hotch saw the leader on a cell phone and really hoped someone somewhere was tracing the call. He took a deep breath. Joey's head bobbed down and then it snapped back up and Hotch knew she was tired. It was way past her bedtime. He shifted her and pulled her up against his chest as he leaned back to try and give her a more comfortable position. "Go ahead and go to sleep, Angel."

She shook her head as she tried to hide a yawn with a hand. "No. I'm ok," she told him but snuggled down into his arms a little more.

He smiled and leaned down and kissed her on the top of her head. "You sleep. I got you."

She sighed and he felt her relax even more. He smiled again and then went back to watching the unsubs. He was silently keeping tally on everything they did. He'd already figured out who was second in command and such, and he had come to the conclusion that the men were a highly trained team. He took a deep breath. _Now if only the people outside can figure that out before someone does something stupid._

His last thought echoed as a one of the unsubs ran up to the leader. The leader looked towards the main doors and Hotch could tell he had gotten pissed. _Shit! What the hell is happening? _

The leader then instructed some of his men to start taking the people they had singled out into the hall. The men yelled and pointed with guns and almost every child in that group started crying as fathers and mothers clung to them as they left the gym.

Hotch hugged Joey to him a little tighter as she woke up from the noise. She looked up at him. "So does that mean they are in danger or we are?"

Hotch actually chuckled. He had just wondered the same exact thing. "I don't know, Angel," he told her honestly and then moved her so she was sitting on his lap facing him. He locked eyes with her. "I know you know this school like the back of your hand." Her brows furrowed, but she nodded. "I need you to promise me that if things start to go bad, that you will find some place safe to hide or even find a way out."

She shook her head as she teared up. "I'm not leaving you, Daddy!"

He moved a few stray hairs out of her face and hooked them behind her ear. "Yes you are."

"No! Mommy told me I had to take care of you!"

He gave her a little grin and then tensed; several of the unsubs had stationed themselves close to the doors, and Hotch figured that someone on the outside was preparing to enter. He looked back into eyes that were a mirror of his own. "You know Mommy didn't mean that with what's going on. I need to. . ."

"No, Daddy! I can help!"

"I know you can, Angel, but I need to know you're safe so I can do my job. . ."

"This isn't your job! You aren't in charge here! You don't. . ."

He grabbed her face in his hands. "You know these people are my responsibility. You know I have to do what I can to protect them. If things go bad, I need you safe so I can concentrate on them."

She searched his eyes and then cringed. His sense of duty was one of the many things she admired in him.

"Angelique Josette!" He hated using her full name because it implied he was unhappy with her and that was the furthest from the truth from how he really felt at that moment, but he had to get her to promise. "Please, Angel!"

She licked her lips as she studied him a moment and then turned to study the unsubs.

Hotch sighed. _You're just as stubborn as your damn mother! _ He took a deep breath and decided to try a different tactic. "If you can find a way out, you can find Mommy or Poppi and you can tell them everything you know. They're going to need that information. Think you can do that?"

She smiled enough that her dimples emerged. "I can do that for you, Daddy."

He gave her a matching grin. "I know you can, Angel. So you promise that if things start to go bad that you will hide and then find a way out and not worry about me?"

She squared her shoulders and nodded. "Yes."

"I need to hear it."

"I promise."

He pulled her to his chest. "And Hotchners don't break promises, do they?"

"Nope!" she told him as she hugged him back.

Hotch settled her back down in his lap and watched the unsub closest to him; there were only four unsubs left in the gym. He huffed. _Why couldn't it have been you in here, Babe? You could take out half of these guys before they even knew what hit them. If the shit hits the fan, I will do my best with them and try to make you proud._

**XXXXX**

Kahlan approached the command table with determined steps. The look on her face had anyone in her way quickly moving out of it and when Colson saw her getting close, he rolled his eyes and turned to the SWAT Commander to finish talking. Kahlan cleared her throat. "Exactly what the hell do you think you are doing breaching a gym full of kids?"

Her tone had made most of the people around the table flinch, but Colson stood up straight. "It is none of the FBI's business what is going on. I am in command of this and I will have you escorted back behind the barricades if you become a problem."

Kahlan gave him an evil grin as she pulled something from her back pocket. "You are relieved of your command, Agent!" she exclaimed as she slammed a badge down on the middle of the table. "Red trumps black!"

Everyone around the table had wide eyes as they looked at Kahlan's official badge. It was the first and only time she had ever used it, but it let everyone there know that she was taking control because it put her right under Director Clapper as far as rank within the agencies.

Chuck snickered as Colson looked from the badge to Kahlan and then back. "I. . . I'm sorry, Ma'am," Colson stumbled. "I didn't know!"

Kahlan looked at the SWAT Commander. "Tell your men to stand down!"

He nodded and started speaking into his comm link as he walked away.

Rossi shared a look with the team and then looked at Kahlan with furrowed brows as he picked up the badge she had put down. He shook his head. "Why does it even surprise me?" It was the only badge he had ever seen that actually had Kahlan's real name on it. It was also red. Every agency had their own style of badges and for anyone in the business, they could tell what agency they worked for by the dominate color of the badge. The FBI's were mainly blue and the Secret Service's were mainly black, and so on. None of them, though, were red. That signaled just how important that badge was.

Kahlan ducked her head a liitle. "I couldn't let one of those kids get hurt because someone jumped the gun."

"No," Rossi agreed with a grin as he handed the badge back to her.

She turned to Colson. "Who do you have for negotiator?" Colson rambled off someone's name and then brought up how the unsubs in the school had been ignoring them. She pointed to Rossi. "Agent Rossi here will take over that position." She pulled out her phone and dialed Cam and put it on speaker. "I want you to spam every phone line in that whole damn school. With every phone ringing off the hook, they're bound to answer if only to get them to stop."

Rossi grinned. "I like it."

Kahlan looked at a young Service agent. "Take Agent Rossi to the phones."

"Yes, Ma'am," she told her and motioned for Rossi to follow her.

Kahlan then looked at Morgan and Chuck. "Get with SWAT and get plans of the school. Figure out the best insertion places in case we do have to go in and make sure they are as far away from that gym as possible!"

Chuck smiled. "Yes, Ma'am," he told her and grabbed Morgan's arm and they ran over to SWAT.

Kahlan then turned to JJ. "Get the press in on this. The unsubs haven't asked for their involvement so they might want to keep this thing quiet. Let's make sure it isn't."

JJ grinned and then pursed her lips. "How about we use Reid's thought and put it out there that they're terrorists wanting ransom?"

Kahlan smiled deviously. "Nice! That will make sure the public doesn't support them."

JJ nodded as she took out her phone and moved away from the group. Reid and Mack looked at Kahlan expecting orders, too. Kahlan looked at Mack. "Find me a tech or someone who can get into the electrical system and such. I have a few things I want them to do." Mack nodded and took off.

Reid took a deep breath. Kahlan smiled at him and then looked at Colson. "Get him to a bank of monitors." Colson nodded and she turned to Reid. "You see if you can profile who these men are. See if there is anything that makes any of them stand out." Reid gave her a quick nod and followed Colson.

Kahlan took a deep breath and looked at the gym not that far from where she was standing. _Don't worry, Aaron. I won't let them screw this up. I just hope I can do half the job that you could do._ She shut her eyes for a moment and shook her head. _Why couldn't it have been you out here running things, Hun? You'd know exactly what to do. I'm flying by the seat of my pants out here._ She looked back to the gym. _I will try to make you proud._


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Everyone in the gym started looking around when a phone started ringing. Then another phone somewhere else started and then another until the ringing of the phones was echoing in the spacious gym. Hotch cringed at the noise but chuckled. _Well, that's one way to get their attention._ He watched as a man brought the handset of a cordless phone to the leader. The leader walked into the hallway off the gym and the ringing stopped. Hotch swallowed hard. _Please let whoever it is on the other end of that line know what they're doing._ He took a deep breath and settled against the wall a little more. He was starting to stiffen up with the lack of activity.

Joey settled back down into his lap, but after about ten minutes she started fidgeting and squirming and finally she looked up at her father. "I have to pee."

Hotch chuckled and then looked to the unsub closest to them. Once he was near enough that Hotch didn't have to yell, he cleared his throat. "My daughter has to use the restroom," he started and then looked around. "In fact, I would think a lot of these kids need to. Would it be alright if they went in little groups?"

The man eyed him for a moment and then nodded. "Three at a time. Take turns, girls then boys."

"Thank you," Hotch told him quickly as he lifted Joey up into a standing position and looked her in the eyes. "No funny business."

She smiled and turned, but he pulled her back. "Joe!" She giggled and pulled out of his grasp as Maddie got up and they went to the bathroom together as another little girl Hotch didn't know joined them. He took a deep breath and shook his head. _I get the feeling she might actually be enjoying this!_

**XXXXX**

Kahlan turned when she felt a hand on her back. Rossi didn't look happy and her heart clenched. "What?"

He shook his head. "I couldn't get him to do anything. When I tried to get him to at least release some of the kids, he said no one was leaving. And he lied and said everyone was fine. I didn't want to tell him we know he's already killed one." He took a deep breath.

"What?" Kahlan asked because she could see the wheels turning in his head.

He licked his lips and shook his head. "I don't know. . . but something. . ."

Kahlan put her hand on his arm. "Just say what you're thinking, Dave."

He winced. "He seemed like he had been on my end of the line a time or two, like he knew all the plays before I even tried to use them."

Kahlan inhaled deeply as she studied him and then looked back to the screens in the truck around her. She huffed. "Reid also thought that these guys seemed a little too prepared."

Rossi shook his head. "So are we dealing with a group of rouge agents of some kind?"

She shrugged, and before she could say anything, Cam and Garcia's faces popped up on a screen. "After going through all of the records of the people they moved into that room, we can't find anything special on them. At first I thought that maybe there was an important vote or something coming up, but I couldn't find anything other than mundane stuff," Garcia told them.

"And the ones who aren't in the government, well, I think they just wanted to keep an eye on them. They have a few military and a few police officers in there, but again, nothing outstanding in their backgrounds either," Cam added.

Kahlan sighed as she looked at Rossi. "Then what the hell is this about?"

Suddenly all of the monitors that showed the various cameras from inside the school blinked and turned to static. Cam started typing frantically and then looked at them through the monitor. "That's not us. They have disabled the system."

Kahlan cringed. "They knew we were watching." She looked at Rossi. "So what the hell don't they want us to see?"

**XXXXX**

After what seemed like forever, Hotch noticed the unsubs finally relaxed and he wondered what had happened. He shook his head. _God I really hope there isn't some idiot in charge out there!_ He looked down at Joey sleeping in his arms and sighed. As he looked around the room, he knew most of the children were sleeping and even a few of the adults were. He shifted in a little. He wasn't sure if it was because Joey was leaned up against him or not, but he was getting warm. He moved her and then shrugged out of his jacket and then noticed several of the men had done the same. He smiled mentally. _They've turned the AC up. That will wear the unsubs down a little bit._ Then he cringed. _Thank God they took that body out of here. _

They had yet to bring the people they had singled out back, and Hotch's mind raced to try and figure out what the unsubs wanted. He bit his lip as he studied the men still in the gym. He had also not seen the leader for a while. _Well, at least I haven't heard any shots or anything, so I can hope they are all still alright._ He took a deep breath and looked at his watch to see what time it was and then almost jumped up in excitement. _Really, Hotchner? How could you forget you had this damn watch on?_ He had made it a point to always wear the special watch he had received in London ever since Michigan. It had saved his life then and he thought that maybe it could do it again if needed.

He stilled his heart, let his head rest on the wall behind him, and closed his eyes as he tried to remember how to work the damn thing. _Even if I can get it working, would it do me any good? Would whatever it does go to London or would it go someplace here? Hmmm. . . _After he thought he remembered how to work it correctly, his fingers moved to it. _Turn that, push this, and. . ._ The middle of the face spun and a tiny lens came into view. He bit back a smile. _Ha!_ Then he cringed. _Shit! Is that the camera or video? _He bit his lip. _I think it's video. Well, I really hope someone sees this and it just doesn't go to that tower in London because there probably isn't anyone there right now._ He took a deep breath and innocently moved to run a hand along his chin as he let the watch scan the gym.

**XXXXX**

Garcia flinched and then grabbed the phone lying on her desk beside her. "Ahh, Puddin, your phone is making weird noises," she told him as she handed it to him.

His brows frowned as he took it and then a massive smile erupted on his face. "I love you, Hotch!" he exclaimed and then connected himself with the command truck Kahlan was in. "Hey. Remind me to buy that husband of yours a drink when all this is over."

Kahlan looked at him with confusion. "Why?"

Cam smiled. "Because I am getting video from his watch!"

Kahlan and Rossi both jumped to the monitor as Cam brought it up for them to see. Everyone stilled as they listened to Hotch's whispers.

"I'm not really sure if anyone is seeing this. . . Hopefully. I realize you're probably into the security system, but. . . I don't know. I had to do something." He took a deep breath as he stilled the watch to capture the leader who had just walked into the gym. "They have yet to use any names, but that guy is definitely the leader. I guess you've figured that out by now, too. . ." He sighed. "I would relax a little if I knew someone was actually seeing this."

Kahlan looked at Cam. "Can you let him know we see it?"

Cam pursed his lips as he thought about it. "Maybe I can. . ."

"Interrupt the feed," Garcia started. "Make it stop and then start. Maybe there is something on it that tells him if it's working or not."

Cam leaned over and kissed her. "You are a genius!" he exclaimed and then got to work.

She smiled. "I keep telling you all that."

**XXXXX**

Hotch's breath caught when the tiny light on his watch blinked. He looked at it suspiciously. "Ok. . . either that was a signal or the battery is dying." He bit his lip. "Make it blink twice if that was you," he told it as he looked at it. When it blinked twice he actually chuckled and then cringed and looked around and make sure no one had noticed. "Ok, then," he started and moved the watch back to watch the unsubs. When they didn't seem to be doing anything interesting, he looked back at the watch. "So, one blink for yes and two for no." It blinked once. "Is this Cam or Garcia?" It blinked once and he bit back a smile. "So Kahlan and the team are working with whoever is in charge?" It blinked once and he took a relaxing breath. _Thank God!_

"I would think that with the way the cameras in here are surrounded by glass that you don't have any sound. I would say all of the unsubs are American. The leader even seems to have a slight southern drawl. I don't know if that helps but. . . Oh, and one of the guys that left with the people they moved out of here has a limp. I would say an old injury to his right hip possibly." He put his arm down and acted as innocent as he could as the guard got close.

**XXXXX**

Rossi smiled at Kahlan. "At least you know he's alright."

She grinned and took a deep breath. "And he better stay that way if he knows what's good for him."

Rossi chuckled.

**XXXXX**

Hotch looked at the watch after making sure none of the unsubs were paying him any attention. "The leader's been on a cell phone. Have you been able to track it?"

The watch didn't do anything and he shook his head. "Really? Come on, you know better than that, Penelope!"

**XXXXX**

Garcia cringed and got busy. "I do know better than that! I will chalk that up to worry about Mon' Capitan," she explained as she typed. After a few minutes, she frowned at her screen.

"What?" Rossi asked before anyone else could.

She shook her head and then looked at her screen again. Cam leaned over and he had the same perplexed look on his face. Garcia huffed. "There are several calls pinging off the local towers in the last few hours, but it's a burn phone so I can't trace it."

Kahlan shook her head. "Several? Several different calls as in several different phones or the same phone to several different numbers?"

"Different numbers, only one phone," Cam clarified. And the whole group looked at each other trying to figure out what that meant.

Kahlan ran a hand through her hair in disgust. "Why couldn't it be Hotch out here? He'd know what to do!" She mentally kicked herself for not thinking about scanning for calls. _That's probably one of the first things Aaron would have done!_

Reid looked at her. "At least they don't know who he is."

Kahlan looked at him. "Yeah."

Reid shook his head. "No, think about it. If they knew who he was and knew who was in charge out here, that would give them way too much leverage."

Kahlan eyes grew wide as she took Reid's face in her hands. "Reid, I love you!" she exclaimed and then kissed him.

Reid's brows furrowed as Kahlan let him go. "Well, yes, I know, but. . ." he started and then looked at Rossi and Rossi shrugged.

"What?" Rossi asked Kahlan as she got a big smile on her face.

She gave him a look. "That's it! It has nothing to do with those people in there! They are using them for leverage!"

"They want something from someone connected to them," Rossi added as he started to follow her train of thought. Kahlan nodded.

"It could be just one person, too," Morgan added. "And they took them all, knowing we are watching, as a counter measure to shield who they are really interested in."

"And whoever it is, is probably already doing what they want," JJ put in.

Kahlan turned to the screen with the Cam and Garcia. She didn't need to say anything, though, it was obvious they were already digging. Kahlan turned to the techs who were in the truck with them. "Help them! There is someone, somewhere who is important to these men." They all got busy as Garcia split up the list so they could all work on different people.

**XXXXX**

When Hotch saw the leader come back in the gym to talk with two of his men, Hotch's brows furrowed. He fingered the watch and let it settle on the group of men. "I don't know if you can zoom in or amplify the sound, but the man in charge looks to be a little agitated, and the guy on the right keeps looking at his watch as if he expects something. I really hope you all are keeping a close eye on this place." The watched blinked and Hotch sighed. He really, really hated sitting on the side lines like some victim. He reached up and massaged his neck and shoulders.

The movement let the watch's camera go over Joey's sleeping form, and Kahlan's heart squeezed. Joey looked peaceful lying in her father's lap, and that showed exactly how much trust she had in her father; and Kahlan silently sent up a prayer for God to keep her and every child in the school safe. She took a deep breath as her hands balled into fists and Rossi put his arm around her and gave her shoulders a fatherly squeeze. "They'll be fine."

Kahlan's eyes cut to him and he almost took a step back from the viciousness he could see in them. "If not, none of those son of a bitches will live to see the outside of that building," she told him in a sinister whisper.

He appraised her and knew she was being completely serious. He nodded. _And God help me for agreeing, but they'll deserve it if they hurt my family!_


	25. Chapter 25

*Just a heads up: school's out here, and while there will still be daily updates, they just won't be as early.

**Chapter 25**

Morgan yawned as he and Mack watched from an SUV as a man quickly left his house and got into his car. He peeled out of his driveway so fast that he almost hit another car that was going down the road; it was morning and everyone was headed to work. Morgan shook his head and put the SUV in drive to follow. "I'd say he's agitated."

Mack huffed. "He's more than agitated. That man is scared."

Morgan glanced at her and then nodded. "Maybe that means we're on the right trail."

Mack nodded and called Rossi to let him know their man was on the move.

**XXXXX**

Across town, JJ and Reid were also following someone; a woman. She had left her house and headed to her job. JJ took a deep breath as she got out of the SUV. "Come on. We don't want to lose her inside."

Reid nodded and they both sped up to keep the woman in view.

**XXXXX**

Rossi put his phone away and looked at Kahlan. "Well, looks like two of the possibles are on the move."

Kahlan took a deep breath and nodded. "If we find out that they are the ones the unsubs have under their thumbs, and we stop them. . . Won't the unsubs find out and get pissed?"

Rossi pursed his lips as he thought about it. "You're worried about what they'll do with the hostages?"

Kahlan raised her brows. "Yeah."

He took a deep breath and they both turned as Agent Colson entered the Command Truck. "Agent Hotchner, Ma'am, I was thinking and well. . ."

"Say whatever's on your mind, Agent. No one will bite your head off for thinking."

He licked his lips. "Well, the man in charge in there is using a cell. I was thinking that we should set up a jammer. If he can't send and receive calls, then he can't give anyone else any orders."

Kahlan smiled, but Rossi shook his head. "No, he'll be expecting that. When it doesn't work, he'll retaliate."

Colson smiled. "I was thinking about doing it sporadically, like the towers or something are messing up. We've used that ploy before and it worked to stall the perps for a good twenty minutes."

"Do you have that kind of equipment here?" Kahlan asked him.

He smiled again. "Yes, but it needs to be close. I could have one of my agents get on the roof."

"Excellent idea; get your agent in place but don't have them use it until you give the order," Kahlan told him.

He nodded. "Yes, Ma'am," he told her and left.

Kahlan looked back to the monitors. Several agents had been able to place cameras around the gym and school, and while they weren't as good as the school's system, it was better than nothing. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed.

"What?" Rossi asked as he studied her.

"If we have to go in. . . If the unsubs find out what we've done. . ." She shook her head. "We really need those kids out of that gym."

Rossi studied the screens and then looked at her. "True. That would be the safest thing, but how do we do that?"

"Can't Hotch's watch send and receive calls?" Chuck asked from a seat behind them.

Kahlan turned to him. "Yes, but what if the alert that says he's getting a call is too loud and he gets found out?"

Chuck winced at that thought. He took a deep breath and then shook his head. "It's a shame we don't have some way to talk to them in code."

A grin slowly grew on Kahlan's face and she giggled. "Have I told you I love you?"

His brows furrowed as he looked at his watch. "Not since it's been officially a new day."

"What?" Rossi asked.

Kahlan flipped a switch and a monitor came to life that showed Garcia's lair. Kahlan cringed when she saw the couple snuggled up together with Cam holding Garcia's head in his lap. They had worked their butts off to find who they thought the unsubs were after and they hadn't been needed since the team and agents set out to find them.

"Cam?" Kahlan whispered to try and not wake Garcia up.

He opened his eyes a slit and gave her a dirty look. "I'm beginning to hate you woman," he whispered back.

Kahlan giggled. "I know they disabled the security system, but can you get me into the intercom system?"

His brows furrowed as he sat up a little, his interest peaked, but he made sure not to jostle his wife too much. "That would be done easier on site, why?"

She smiled. "Because I have to get a message to Hotch."

**XXXXX**

Hotch rubbed his eyes. It had been a long night and he was fighting against sleep pulling at his eyelids. Joey had yet to wake up and her breathing softly against his chest made him want sleep even more; he had rid himself of his vest and his tie to try and stay cool and get more relaxed. Several of the parents had even curled up on the floor with their child, but Hotch couldn't allow himself that luxury. _I have to stay awake to keep an eye on things._ He knew inactivity was making it harder to stay awake because he knew if he had been up and moving around he wouldn't have had a problem. He took a deep breath and ran a hand down his face. _And my ass is asleep!_

He tried to shift himself onto one hip to get the blood flowing back where it was supposed to be and when he did, he noticed two unsubs discussing something on the other side of the doors to the hall. While he couldn't hear what was being said, he could tell the discussion was heated by way they were gesturing. _Ut-oh._ He fingered the watch. "I don't know what's going on, but it looks like a couple of our unsubs are upset about something," he whispered and then let the watch point towards the doors. Once one of the men stormed away, Hotch turned the watch back to him. "And I don't know what you all are doing, but I would really appreciate it if you hurried up. Sitting on this hard floor is killing me," he told it with a grin. "Seriously, though, you may want to have someone offer to bring in breakfast. I don't want to think about being stuck in a gym with thirty cranky kids."

**XXXXX**

Kahlan laughed as she watched her husband on the screen. "Idiot."

Rossi put his arm around her shoulder. "Gotta love him."

Kahlan nodded. "That I do."

"He has a point, though," Rossi added and then took a deep breath. He sat down roughly and ran a hand down his face.

Kahlan looked to him with eyes full of concern. None of them had any sleep and she was worried it was taking a toll on him. "You alright?" He sighed and looked her in the eyes. When she saw his starting to water, she knelt down next to him. "What?"

He licked his lips and swallowed hard. "I really don't want to ask him if he'll allow food or not."

Her brows furrowed. "Why?"

He cringed. "When a hostage situation goes on for so long. . . It's a good indicator of where things are going to lead."

She sat back on her heels as she studied him. "In other words, if he says they can't have anything. . ." Her stomach twisted into a knot. "Then he doesn't have any plans of them ever getting out of there."

Rossi nodded, unable to find his voice. He really didn't want to consider anything bad happening to the man he loved like a son and especially not his Goddaughter/granddaughter, his Bella.

Her eyes darted around and then settled on Chuck. He ran a hand through his hair. "You get those kids out of there and we can have those bastards taken out in under a minute!"

She stood up as she inhaled deeply and put hand on Rossi's shoulder. "Go call him. See what he wants to do. That will tell us which direction we have to take."

He cleared his throat as he stood up. He knew she didn't want to go commando on this op because she was trying to handle it like she thought Hotch would, but he also knew that she would do whatever it takes to keep her family safe and that included going in there and handling them all on her own if need be. He pulled her into a hug. "I'll do my best, Kiddo."

She squeezed him. "That's the only thing you know how to do."

He smiled as he pulled away and then left to go to the phone, praying the whole time that the unsub actually answered.

Chuck fixed her with a serious look. "And if need be, you know we can do it even with the kids there."

She cringed. "Yeah, just what I want any of those innocent babies to see: seven heavily armed people attacking and killing those men right in front of them. That could damage them for life."

He swallowed hard. "But if it comes down to it. . ."

"Yes! IF it comes down to saving those kids, but not before."

He nodded. "Of course."

**XXXXX**

Hotch heard a little giggle and looked down to see his daughter's eyes open. She smiled. "You have to go pee now, don't you?"

Hotch raised his brows in surprise at her question. "I have very good control of my bladder, thank you very much."

She giggled again. "Then why are you squirming around."

He sighed. "Because I have this giant pain in my butt on me cutting off the circulation to my legs," he joked as he tickled her.

She laughed and squirmed and rolled off of him. As she sat up, she looked around and sighed. "I was so hoping that I would wake up in my bed and this had been a dream."

He pulled her close to his side and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I know, Angel." He drew his knees up hoping the movement would help ease the stiffness and he noticed several of the kids starting to wake up. _Even during the summer, the little ones still wake up early._ He smiled as the first thing Billy did when he sat up was look to check on Joey. Joey nodded to him and he nodded back and then they both looked to Maddie. She shook her head at them and Hotch chuckled. _What I wouldn't give to be able to read their minds._

XXX

About an hour later, another armed guard came through the hallway door. "Alright, everyone wake-up!" he yelled.

Hotch's brows furrowed as he struggled to get standing and pushed Joey behind him. _What the hell is going on now?_

The guard looked around. "You!" he yelled as he pointed at a woman. "And you!" he added as he then pointed at Hotch. "Get over here!"

"Daddy?" Joey whispered as she grabbed the back of his pants.

Hotch reached back and peeled her hand off. "It'll be alright," he assured her and he prayed that wasn't a lie.

"Come on!" the guard yelled and the woman flinched and Hotch sped up and their eyes met. He could tell she was frightened and he couldn't blame her.

Hotch straightened himself up as he got close to the man. "What?"

The doors behind the man opened and another unsub pushed in a cart. The man gestured to the people in the gym. "You two can pass out breakfast."

Hotch relaxed. "Oh," he offered as he took the cart and gave the woman a look hoping to calm her down. "We can do that."

The woman nodded and moved in beside Hotch as he headed over to the first person. He opened the top of the cart and smiled at the choice of breakfast: yogurts, granola bars, and little milk cartons. _Did they steal this out of the school's fridge?_ He shook his head. _And no utensils to make a weapon out of. Someone's smart._

He grabbed two of each item and then handed them to the woman and she passed them to the man and his daughter who were sitting at the end of the wall. As they moved on to the next people, the lady looked towards the unsubs and then moved closer to Hotch. "So you're Joey's dad?"

Hotch grinned. "Yes, but I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met."

She smiled. "I'm Mrs. Markham, Seth's mom."

Hotch's brows rose just slightly as he reached into cart and handed her some more to hand out.

She laughed lightly. "I can't believe we haven't actually met with as close as Seth is to Joey," she continued as they made their way down the line.

Hotch's brows furrowed with that and shot a look to his daughter across the gym. _Ok, so Seth is a liar on top of everything else. You just stay away from him, Angel._

"Seth became instantly smitten with her on Joey's first day. He went on and on about the new girl at school. 'You should see her, Mommy. She's really smart. She can climb to the top of the jungle gym quicker than everyone else. She has long dark hair and dark eyes.'" She laughed again. "For over an hour he talked about her, and when I finally asked him what her name was he shook his head and said he didn't know. I asked him how they had played if he didn't know her name and he turned beet red and said he didn't play with her, that all he did was watch her."

"Oh yeah?" Hotch asked as they continued.

"That whole first week, all I heard about was Joey. 'She can throw a football, Mommy. She plays with matchbox cars, she plays with GI Joes, she likes playing in the dirt', and on and on. We knew he liked her. To him she was the perfect girl, but after a couple weeks of that, my husband and I knew Seth was just too shy to say anything to her." She sighed. "I'm so glad he's gotten passed that stage."

Hotch licked his lips and looked at her. "He and Joey are not friends. They've never even talked."

Mrs. Markham faltered a step. "What?"

Hotch shook his head as he handed her two little cartoons of milk. "No. Joey said she tried to play with him before, but he ignored her. She thinks he doesn't like her."

"But. . . He. . ."

"He's actually said they're friends?"

She pursed her lips as she thought about it. "Now that I think about it. . . No. I guess. . . I just thought. . ." She shook her head. "I can't believe he still hasn't worked up enough courage." She sighed. "He's always been a little awkward."

"He seemed to be doing just fine at the dance," Hotch pointed out.

She looked at him. "Oh. . . you're talking about Rachel and her friends?"

Hotch shrugged. "I don't know who they were but they were surrounding Seth."

She shook her head. "Rachel and her little group are Jefferson's mean girls if you can believe that. Seth despises them, but we have raised him to be a gentleman and he would never be mean to anyone especially a girl."

Hotch studied her for a moment and then looked toward Seth. The boy looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear, and Hotch chuckled.

"He probably thinks Joey wouldn't like him. He's not like other boys his age."

Hotch looked at her. "How so?" He knew all about kids who weren't normal and he was suddenly very interested if not a little worried.

"Well, he'd rather read than play video games. He loves mysteries and stuff like that. My husband says that's our fault for letting him watch Scooby Doo when he was a toddler, but I like Scooby Doo. I think it's a lot better than some of the cartoons that are out now a days!"

Hotch chuckled. "There's nothing wrong with Scooby."

"He loves Sherlock Holmes, now. I think he has read and watched everything ever put out with him in it."

Hotch smiled. "Sherlock's pretty cool, too."

"He'd rather watch discovery Channel than Cartoon Network, and a lot of the kids think that is very strange."

"Joey's favorite is Animal Planet." Hotch looked at the boy again. _I like him more and more._

She shook her head again. "I don't know what his problem is. It's obvious he's wants her to like him."

"How so?"

She laughed. "He started collecting Pokémon cards," she told him after handing out more food and moving to the next people.

Hotch's brows furrowed. "Don't a lot of kids collect those? I know Joey does."

She laughed. "He doesn't even play Pokémon, but he started spending every cent he could earn from mowing lawns, raking leaves, shoveling walks. . . all on Pokémon cards. When I asked him why he was collecting them when he didn't even play the games, he said it was because Joey was looking for certain cards and he was trying to find them for her."

Hotch laughed. "Really? How was he doing that if they weren't friends?"

She huffed. "He said he slipped them into her locker because he didn't want her to know they were from him, but it still never hit me that it was because he couldn't talk to her."

Hotch knew all about the secret admirer who left Pokémon cards. Joey would get at least one a month and she was always so happy when she found one, but she could never figure out who had given them to her. He took a deep breath and looked towards his daughter who had moved over to Billy and his mom and then turned back to Mrs. Markham. "I think Joey took his shyness as dislike in the beginning."

She pursed her lips. "Well, maybe if we all make it out of here, we can try to get them to at least tell each other hello."

Hotch nodded. "Or we might have to accidently show up at the park at the same time one day."

She laughed. "They're too smart for that; they would know we set it up."

Hotch's brows quirked. "That's true." He noticed another unsub come into the gym and was watching them so he leaned closer to her. "I don't think they want us talking," he whispered. She eyed the men and nodded and they finished passing out breakfast in silence.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

Once Hotch and Mrs. Markham were done passing out breakfast, Hotch took the cart back to the unsub by the door and went back across the gym and Joey met him in their spot on the wall. He sat down beside her as he handed her his yogurt. "Here."

She shook her head. "No, Daddy. You need to eat it."

"I am not eating green apple flavored yogurt."

She giggled. "Then trade me, mine's strawberry."

He eyed her and knew she wasn't going to back down, so he sighed and took it. "Why do all the women in this family feel they have to force me to eat?"

She nestled up to him and smiled. "Cause we love you."

He smiled and opened her milk for her.

"So was Mrs. Markham telling you all about Seth's girlfriends?" she asked trying to sound uninterested.

He smiled. "I think you might be wrong about him. Maybe you should try talking to him again."

Her eyes snapped to him and studied him. "Why? What did she say?"

He shrugged and took a bite of his granola bar. "She said he didn't like Rachel and her friends."

Joey's brows rose and then she looked towards Seth. Seth turned red and tried to duck in behind his mom and Hotch chuckled. "Hmmm. . ." Joey hummed as she ate.

When Hotch was about to say something else, a ping sounded and all of the kids looked up and around. Hotch's brows furrowed and then a voice started over the intercom system. He looked around. Whoever it was, was speaking in a foreign language and as he studied everyone, he could tell they were all just as perplexed as he was. "That almost sounds like your mo. . ." Hotch started but stopped as Joey squeezed his arm to shut him up. His brows rose in surprise. _Oh my God! That is Kahlan!_ He looked at his daughter. _And you understand her. _He mentally shook his head. _Why does that even surprise me? What the hell else have you been teaching our kids, Babe?_

Hotch watched as one unsub took off running towards the hall and the others got more and more agitated, and he started to worry about them doing something when the voice stopped and a ping sounded letting them all know the message was over. Joey turned to him and he shook his head slightly. "Not now. They're watching," he whispered without moving his lips because all of the unsubs were trying to figure out who the message was for.

Joey licked her lips and started eating her granola bar innocently, and Hotch took a deep breath. _What the hell was that about?_ He noticed the leader come into the gym and he got in a heated conversation with his second and Hotch could tell they had no idea what the message was. Hotch bit back a smile. _Leave it to Kahlan to know a language no one else here knows. _Then he looked at Joey. _Well, almost no one else._

He had to hold back a laugh as the men got loud enough that Hotch heard snippets of what they were saying. "None of the files listed any of them as speaking a foreign language!" and "Maybe it was a malfunction. Maybe it picked up on something in the air."

He ran a hand down his face and then finished off his milk. After about ten minutes, he picked Joey up and put her in his lap so they could be closer. "That was Mom?"

"Yep."

"What'd she say?" She bit her lip and looked down at her lap. He lifted her chin and locked eyes with her. "Angel?"

"It was just a quick message. She just. . ."

"I may not have understood what was being said, but I know repetition when I hear it. What did she say?"

She took a deep breath. "Get the kids out."

His brows furrowed as he studied her and then he ran a hand along his jaw. "That's it?"

Joey nodded. "She didn't say how or why, just those four words over and over."

He nodded and took a deep breath as his eyes darted around. _Their coming in and they want the kids out of the way. Ok, but how?_ He looked around the gym. There were thirty three kids and thirty two parents still left in there and he had no idea where the other people had been taken. He bit his lip and then locked eyes with his daughter again.

She frowned at the way he was looking at her. "What?"

He smiled. "Think you could get your friends to follow your lead?"

Her head tilted to the side slightly as she tried to figure out where he was going with that. "Of course. What did you want me to do?"

He licked his lips again and looked around. "Is the little gym still open?"

She nodded. "Yep. That's where we have recess when the weather's bad."

He nodded and then shot a look to Billy and Maddie. He could tell they were curious about what he and Joey were talking about and he gave them a little nod and then pulled Joey even closer. "Here's what I want you to do."

**XXXXX**

"Did you see Hotch's face? He knew instantly!" Chuck exclaimed and then laughed.

"You're sure Bella understood?" Rossi asked still a little nervous over the whole thing.

Kahlan nodded. "Yes. She has been learning that one the longest."

Rossi took a deep breath. "Well, we'll see how long it takes him to figure out how to do it."

Kahlan sat down with a grin. "Please, this is Hotch we're talking about. He's already figured it out."

Chuck huffed and then frowned as he watched the monitors. "I'll be a son of a bitch!" Hotch was leaned in close to Joey and they could all tell he was telling her his plan.

Kahlan looked to the screen and her grin grew. "Told you."

Rossi shook his head. "I hope whatever he has planned works."

**XXXXX**

"But I'm bored, Daddy!" Joey whined loudly as she kicked her feet a few times.

"I know, Sweetheart, but you have to sit still," Hotch tried just as loud.

She pulled away from him and stood up. "No I don't! I want to go home!" she screamed.

Hotch shook his head and tried to pull her back to him. "Come on, Sweetheart. We'll go home soon!"

"I want to go play then!"

"No! You have to sit back down!" Hotch yelled.

"I want to play, too!" Billy yelled as he jumped up.

"Me, too! I'm tired of just sitting here!" Maddie agreed as she jumped up and pulled away from her dad.

"What the hell is going on?" the closest unsub asked as he advanced to Hotch and Joey. Hotch's look pleaded with Joey to behave but she folded her arms across her chest and stood her ground. "I'll ask one more time!" the man demanded as he fingered his rifle.

"The kids are bored!" Hotch started. "They have been cooped up in this gym for too long."

"And?" the man asked.

"And they have pent up energy. Can't they at least run around and play or something? They can't handle sitting down long enough to watch a movie let alone all night and all morning!"

The guard shook his head. "I am not dealing with a bunch of screaming brats running around making a lot of noise!"

"Please!" Joey whined and soon all of the kids where begging, loudly.

Hotch took a deep breath. "The auxiliary gym is open. There're balls and stuff in there. Let them go in there to run off some energy." The unsub was about to say no, so Hotch spoke up again. "You can't possibly be scared that a bunch of kids are going to be a problem for you?"

He man huffed and then looked towards the door as the kids started begging again. The unsub by the door, the second in command, nodded and all the kids cheered. "Just the kids! The parents stay!" the man by the door stipulated.

The guard by Hotch looked at him. "Get them lined up."

Hotch nodded and pulled Joey to him. "That was perfect, Angel," Hotch whispered as he picked her up and held her close. She giggled. "Alright," Hotch said aloud to the kids. "Let's go to the little gym!" They all cheered again and quickly surrounded him as he made his way to the doors.

They all quieted down as they looked at the man blocking the doors. Hotch sat Joey down and tried to keep his alpha down and not naturally challenge the man. He looked Hotch up and down and then turned to another unsub. "Walk them there and then come back. He comes back, too." The man nodded and then pushed the door open. Hotch hurried the kids through the door and down the hall as he silently thanked God the little gym was on the other side of the school.

When they got there, Hotch picked Joey up and hugged her to his chest. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too, Daddy. Please be careful!" she demanded quietly. She was smart enough to realize why they wanted the kids out of the gym in the first place.

He nodded into the hair. "Promises," he muttered as he sat her down.

She nodded. "Yep," she agreed and then ran into the gym to apparently play with her friends.

Hotch took a deep breath and tried to swallow the lump in his throat.

The man who had walked with them looked to another unsub. "You stay here. All the doors are chained so all you have to do is check on them once in a while."

The new man nodded and took up post in front of the door and the other guy shoved Hotch back the way they came. "Let's go!"

Hotch bit his lip to keep back the retort that wanted to escape and made his way back to the big gym.

**XXXXX**

Once the team got back and told Kahlan and them what their marks had done, Kahlan shook her head in disgust. "It doesn't make any sense!"

Rossi held out his hands. "I would think money, government secrets, and technological secrets are a pretty good motivator," he tried.

The man Morgan and Mack had followed had broken into the bank's computer where he worked and had transferred one million dollars to a Swiss bank account because the unsubs had threatened to kill his sister and his nephew. The woman JJ and Reid had followed had digitally copied files that were marked Top Secret from her office in the pentagon because the unsubs had threatened her brother-in-law and her niece. The third person Garcia and them had run down spent the morning emailing all kinds of files from his office at Microsoft because the unsubs had threatened his mother and adopted brother.

Kahlan shook her head again. "No. None of that needs this kind of operation! They could have attacked those people individually. Why attack the whole dance and everyone in it?"

Morgan ran a hand over his head. "So then what? These were all just smoke screens to hide the real target?"

She shrugged. "We're missing something!"

"We've let all of these ploys go through. The unsubs should be finding out that they've been successful and if it is truly it, they'll end this thing," Chuck offered.

**XXXXX**

As Hotch was walking, he heard a woman crying and someone yelling. He fingered his watch and tried to act as if he wasn't interested. When he passed one hallway, he saw a woman on her knees pleading with the leader. "Please! He just needs more time!"

"He has had enough time! I'm going to kill your son!"

"No! Please! Let me talk to him! I'll see what the problem is!"

Hotch must have hesitated a little too long because the man who was escorting him back to the gym slammed the butt of his rifle into Hotch's right kidney. "What are you gawking at? Get your ass back to the gym!"

A muffled scream escaped Hotch's lips as the blow dropped him to one knee because he wasn't expecting it, but he forced himself to stand back up and held up a hand to stop the man from doing anything else as he stumbled down the hall.

**XXXXX**

"Son of a bitch!" Chuck yelled as they watched the feed from Hotch's watch. It was obvious the blow had been powerful.

"Rewind that to the hall with the woman!" Kahlan yelled and Cam got it to the right spot and froze the image. Kahlan studied it and then looked at everyone else. "Can any of you figure out who that is?"

They all got close and studied it. "I can't see enough," Mack offered and everyone else quickly agreed.

Rossi shook his head. "You were right!"

Kahlan shook her head.

"You thought there was something else. That proves that they are still trying to get something else from whoever this man is they were referring to." He turned to the monitor and looked at Cam and Garcia. "I know you two have already searched. . ."

Garcia nodded. "But we will search again! At least we can concentrate on the women."

Chuck put his arm around Kahlan's shoulders. "He'll be alright, he's tough."

Kahlan nodded. "Oh, I know."

**XXXXX**

As soon as Joey was sure the man guarding the door wasn't going to come in, she pulled Billy and Maddie into a corner and told them she was going to get out. They immediately said they would do whatever it took to help her, and she smiled.

After about ten minutes, the guard opened the door, took a step in, took a look around, and then stepped back out.

Joey looked at Billy and he nodded. Joey figured she had at least another ten minutes before he'd be back in and she wanted to be long gone by the time that happened. She and Maddie made their way over to the closet that housed the play equipment. After a couple minutes, a few of the kids noticed and Billy tried to distract them, but Rachel pushed her way passed them and stepped into the closet just as Joey was moving a ceiling tile as she balanced on the top of the shelves that held the play equipment. Rachel shook her head. "I'm telling!"

Joey's eyes got wide and she jumped down. "You can't! I have to! My Daddy said!"

Rachel shook her head. "No! You're going to get all of us in trouble! They'll shoot us like they shot Mary's daddy!"

"No they won't! They won't even know!" Billy insisted as he took a step closer to the girl he hated.

"She won't tell," Joey told Billy as she pushed him back and looked Rachel in the eyes.

Rachel huffed. "Yes I will!"

Joey gave her an evil look. She so wanted to hit the girl and it took everything in her to restrain herself because she knew both of her parents would get mad at her if she did. She licked her lips and looked Rachel in the eyes. "No you won't because you don't want to spend the rest of your school days worrying about what will happen next," she told her and the ice in her tone had several of the kids who had gathered backing up; they had never seen Joey that mad.

"What?" Rachel asked and then licked her lips.

"It would be a shame for all of your fancy clothes to be ruined from mud getting splattered on you, accidently of course, everyday!" Joey started as she took another step towards the girl.

Rachel took a step back. "And I'd tell the teacher!"

Joey grinned again. "It wouldn't help if you didn't know who had done it."

"It'd be you!"

"Not if I did it!" Billy put in.

"Or me," Maddie added with her own grin.

"Or any of us," another girl added.

Rachel looked around at them all and shook her head. "I don't care. We're rich! Mommy can buy me more clothes!"

Joey took another step closer and leaned in. "Then I guess you'll have other things to worry about, like every time you open your desk, you'll have to wonder, will there be a spider in there or a worm, or, I know, maybe there will be a grasshopper in it. We all know how much you hate grasshoppers." She leaned in even closer and Rachael leaned back as her eyes watered and Joey giggled an evil giggle. "Imagine opening your desk to get out your book and a grasshopper landing on your face!"

Rachel gulped. "You wouldn't dare!"

Joey raised her brows. "I'm not afraid of bugs and stuff like you are."

"And if no one sees her do it, then she can't get in trouble!" Maddie put in as she folded her arms across her chest.

Tears started down Rachel's cheeks. "I won't tell anyone! Please don't put a grasshopper in my desk!"

Joey straightened back up and fixed her with her stare. "Just make sure you don't."

Rachel nodded quickly. "Promise!"

Joey nodded and turned to her friends. "Alright. I'm going."

Maddie pulled her into a hug. "Please be careful."

"You know it," Joey assured her with a grin.

Billy gave her a fist bump. "Now hurry up before the doorman comes back in."

Joey took a deep breath and started for the shelves. As soon as she grabbed it, Seth stepped closer. "Here, Joey, you might need this," he told her as he held out a little flashlight he had taken out of his pocket.

Joey's eyes grew wide as she looked at the flashlight and then to Seth. She reached out for it. "Thank you."

He put it in her hand, but he didn't let go of it. As soon as Joey fingers wrapped around it, his fingers wrapped around hers, and he leaned in and quickly kissed her cheek. Her eyes shot open even further as her cheeks turned red. "For luck," he told her with a smile that revealed one dimple on his right cheek.

She tried to catch her breath as her heart sped up and Billy pushed her towards the shelves. "Yeah, yeah, go!"

She shook her head and then started up. Once she reached the top, she climbed through the hole in the ceiling grid and then turned and put the tile back. Billy took a deep breath and then clapped and shooed everyone out and away from the closet. "Go play!" And the kids quickly dispersed.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Kahlan looked at Chuck. "Get some people together and find out where Hotch took the kids!"

He nodded and ran out of the trailer. They already knew where the unsubs had taken the other group of people, and she wanted to make sure they could get to all of the groups at the same time if or when they needed to go in.

"I was going through the footage again," Reid started as he looked from the monitor he had been using to Kahlan and Rossi. "And I noticed the unsub in the records room took off his gloves. Apparently they were making it too difficult to go through the files."

Kahlan's brows furrowed. "And that tells you something important about him?"

Rossi couldn't help it, he chuckled. He had to remind himself that Kahlan wasn't the same type of agent that they were. "No, Kiddo, that means he left fingerprints on the files he handled."

Kahlan still wasn't following, though, and her confused look made most of them laugh.

"If we can get ahold of one of those files, then we might be able to identify him through his fingerprints," JJ explained.

Kahlan's eyes grew wide. "That's genius!"

Rossi laughed again and put his arm around her. "We're used to identifying people before we kill them."

Kahlan's cheeks heated as she ducked her head. "Shut up, Dave!" He gave her a squeeze as he laughed some more and she elbowed him and he grunted and pulled away from her. She looked at Reid. "I'll get Tammy. She'd be perfect for that. You tell her which ones to grab and she'll get them for you."

Reid nodded and went back to the footage.

Rossi leaned in close to Kahlan. "So are all of your people master thieves like you?"

She grinned. "Not all of them."

Rossi appraised her and mentally shook his head. _Thank God you guys are on our side because God knows the havoc you could wreak if you all were the unsubs!_ A shudder ran through him with that thought and he had to quickly put those thoughts down.

**XXXXX**

When Hotch got back to the gym, the unsubs were finally letting the adults take a bathroom break one at a time and when he got his turn, he splashed cold water on his face before heading back to the gym. _Please let this be over soon._ He took a deep breath as he studied his reflection. _And please keep my little angel safe!_ He knew she was going to try and get out, and his insides tightened a little with that thought. He sighed. _At least if she's out, she's safe._ He made his way back to the gym rubbing his lower back. _That's going to leave a mark._

**XXXXX**

One unsub ran up to the man guarding the little gym. "I think I just saw a kid run passed that hall down there! Are you losing kids?"

The man huffed. "I don't think so!" he told him as he opened the door and went into the gym. He looked around. The kids were everywhere: some were jumping rope, some were playing basketball, some were playing tag, and a few were sitting down and talking. His eyes scanned the gym and he frowned. "Wait a minute. Freeze!" he yelled as loud as he could and every kid froze and looked to him.

The man next to him looked at him. "What?"

"I don't see the little girl in the green dress," the first man told him as his anger started to build.

"Really? You remember what each of them is wearing?"

He shook his head. "She's the only one wearing that color!" he screamed as he moved through the kids searching for a little dark haired girl.

"You mean me?" Maddie asked as she stepped out from behind Seth and Billy. She was wearing Joey's dress.

The man relaxed. "Oh, there she is. I didn't see you!" he yelled at her.

Maddie ducked her head in apparent fear.

The second man shook his head. "Maybe I was just seeing things," he told the other as they both made their way back to the door.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Maddie turned with a big grin on her face and Billy gave her a high five. "That was awesome!" Billy exclaimed.

Seth quickly nodded his agreement. "It sure was smart of Joey to get you to wear her dress."

Billy shook his head. "It shouldn't have surprised me she had on shorts and a tank top under it, but it did."

**XXXXX**

Joey sank down behind a table in the science room. She took a couple deep breaths and tried to still her heart. _That was close! He almost saw me!_ She shook her head. She had tried to go through the little gym into the kitchen like she had many times before, but someone had put a crate in front of the passage that she normally went through. It was way too heavy for her to move, so she had to find another way around. She thought her best bet was for her to get to the roof and then to the fire escape by the kitchen and from there to the ground. She was sure if she could do that, then she'd be able to find her mother or her Poppi.

As she stood up and looked around, she sighed. _Why do they have to be roaming the halls? They're worse than the teachers!_ She took a deep breath and started for the door of the classroom she had ducked into. Every one of the classroom doors had been opened for the summer and she was thankful for that. After making sure the coast was clear, her bare feet padded down the hallway as she stuck close to the wall. _Slow and easy, Joe. It's better to be cautious than to be fast. _

**XXXXX**

A monitor came to life to show Garcia's smiling face. "They did a rush on the prints, and once we sorted out school employees and such, we were able to find a nice set. I'm running them through the system, now."

Kahlan nodded. "He should come up of he's been arrested or anything, right?"

Cam nodded. "Yes, but it also stores anyone who has ever been fingerprinted."

Kahlan ran a hand through her hair. "Any luck on who that woman in Hotch's video is yet?"

Cam shook his head. "We have searched and searched again. We can't find anyone connected to any woman at that dance who we think could have something these unsubs want. It has to be something we're not seeing or thinking about."

Kahlan huffed. "Maybe once we know who this one guy is, that will give you a better idea where to search."

Cam nodded. "Hopefully."

**XXXXX**

Joey headed for the drama room. _I can get on the roof through the catwalks above the stage!_ She and her close friends were always testing each other's skills by planning and having scavenger hunts throughout the whole school. Of course those hunts had gotten them in trouble a time or two, but nothing too serious. That was how she knew every nook and cranny of the old school; she had been exploring it since her first day. It had been rumored that the building used to be a mental hospital in its beginning, but every time one of the students asked about that, they were always brushed off. Joey knew, though, because of her father that if people avoided the question instead of answering it that that usually meant the answer was yes.

She took a deep breath and check around the corner of the hall. Not seeing anyone, she ran across and then slowed as she got closer to the drama room and theatre. She would never admit it to anyone – not even her mother or father – but the old theatre gave her the creeps. She just knew something bad happened there at one time or another. Rachel had teased them all by telling them of a kid who had fallen from the catwalk and had died right on the stage. Again, no one would confirm or deny it, and that bothered Joey more than she wanted to admit.

She chewed on her lower lip as she made her way down the middle isle towards the stage. It was dark in there because there weren't any windows and Joey thought about turning on the flashlight Seth had given her, but she was afraid someone would notice it. She ran a hand down her face as she stopped in front of the stage. Being all alone in the massive room made her even more uneasy. Every time she had planned a hunt and hid the items, she always stayed far away from the theatre. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her heart; it was echoing in her ears, and she shook her head. _Come on, Joe! Daddy's counting on you! There's nothing to be afraid of!_ One more deep breath and she jumped up onto the stage as a little voice in her head added, a_t least I hope not._

**XXXXX**

As Hotch sat in the gym, he was really starting to get impatient. He sighed and ran a hand down his face. _Whatever's going on, it should be coming to a close soon, right?_ He looked at his watch. He didn't want to turn it on because he really wasn't sure how long the battery would last and he wanted to save it in case something important happened. He sighed and tried to settle back against the wall. _What I wouldn't give for some of that equipment in that tackle box in my office. Then I could at least be listening to what was happening on the outside._

**XXXX**

As Joey made her way up the ladder to the catwalk, she froze when she heard the theatre door open. She held her breath as she watched a man with a flashlight walking up the main isle and checking each of the rows of seats as he moved along. _Please don't look up here. Please don't look up here. _ She kept repeating to herself as she watched him. He got to the stage and then looked all around and then finally turned and made his way back towards the door. When she heard the door shut, she breathed out a rush of relief and started climbing again. Once she got to the top, she turned to the catwalk and swallowed hard. She bit her lip. _Come on, Joe! Don't let your imagination run away with you! There's nothing here!_

**XXXXX**

Cam's face popped up in the screen and he looked confused. "I don't know if someone has made a mistake somewhere or what, but things just got really strange."

Kahlan and Rossi stepped closer. "How so?" Rossi asked.

"We ran the prints through the usual databases and didn't get any hits," Garcia started and Kahlan shook her head. "And then Puddin suggested expanding the search and we finally got a hit."

Rossi smiled. "Thank God!"

"Why is that strange?" Kahlan asked as her brows furrowed. Not many things phased Cam and she was wondering what could have done it.

Garcia drooped. "Because the prints belong to a dead man."

"What?!" Kahlan and Rossi both exclaimed at the same time.

"I told you it was strange," Cam started and the monitor showed a picture of the man the prints had been matched to. "You are looking at Sargent Nelson of the Marine Corp. He died in combat four years ago."

Kahlan and Rossi looked at each other. Kahlan looked back to Cam. They had had their share of supposedly dead people and she didn't want to consider dealing with that again. She took a deep breath. "Let me guess, his whole squad got killed on some horrible op?"

Cam smiled. "You got it."

"Son of a bitch!" she yelled and turned away. She looked around for something to hit and decided the door was the safest thing and she slammed a fist into it.

"I think I might have missed something," Rossi told them as he watched her.

She turned back to him. "They didn't die. They were recruited into something!"

Rossi ran a hand down his goatee. "We thought they might be a group of rogue agents. That fits."

"I would say this is some sort of revenge thing," Cam suggested.

Rossi looked at Garcia. "Any connection between our victims and the military?"

Garcia started typing. "None that popped out, but I will take a closer look."

**XXXXX**

Joey made it across the catwalk without any problems and as soon as she started for the ladder that would lead her to the section that lead to the roof she heard a loud bang. She froze. _You really didn't hear that! That was your imagination!_

"I knew I saw a brat running loose!" a man yelled and Joey turned in shock. He smiled. "I don't know what you're doing up here, but you are going back with me," he told her as he advanced on her.

She swallowed hard. The man had a gun slung across his chest but he wasn't even touching it.

"Now be a good girl and come here," he tried with a smile as he stepped out onto the catwalk.

His smile sent a chill down Joey's spine and she mentally shuddered. It was also the first unsub she had seen without his tactical mask on and she knew that was not a good thing. She took a deep breath as her mind raced.

"Now!" the man yelled.

She held up her hands. "Ok, ok," she told him as she started walking towards him. As soon as she stepped onto the catwalk, she threw the flashlight and it hit the coupler holding the catwalk to the ceiling and it dropped. It only fell about two feet as the safety rigging caught, but the move had made the man stumble and grab ahold of the railing. Joey had started running towards him as it fell and she went to her knees. As she slid under the man, she slammed the palm of her hand up and into the man's privates, and he screamed and stumbled back. His back slammed into the wall behind him and he slid down it as his hands went to his crotch. Joey jumped up and continued running towards him. She jumped and used his leg, his shoulder, and then his head as she climbed on top of the room that housed the theater's control booth.

She turned and looked down at the man. "Mommy always said never hit a guy there unless it was really important. I'd say that was pretty important because I couldn't get up here without help. Thank you. This is where I really wanted to go," she finished with a grin and took off again as he moaned.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Chuck came into the trailer looking a little paler than normal and Kahlan's stomach tightened. "What? You found the kids, right?"

He nodded. "Yeah. They're all having fun in the little gym on the other side of the school."

Kahlan brows furrowed. "Then why do you look so rattled?"

He held up the radio that he had been using to listen to the unsubs. "I think we have a problem," he told her as he turned it up so everyone could hear it.

"Get up there and help him!" came one man's voice.

"Damn it! How the hell did one of the kids get loose?" came another.

Kahlan's chest instantly tightened; she knew who they were talking about. She turned to the monitors and they all saw a few of the unsubs scrambling and running down the halls.

"I want that brat found!" came another voice out of the radio.

Rossi studied Kahlan. "Oh my God! They're talking about Joey, aren't they?"

Kahlan licked her lips. "I think so."

Chuck shook his head. "She would be brave enough to try something."

Kahlan huffed. "I'm going to kill her!"

**XXXXX**

Hotch's brows furrowed as he saw the leader come into the gym and get into a discussion with his second. When the man looked around and his eyes settled on Hotch, Hotch's heart skipped a beat. _Oh shit!_

Both men advanced towards him. "You! Come here!" the leader yelled as Hotch got standing.

Hotch noticed several of the parents looking at him and his stomach tightened as he started for the men. "Yeah?" he asked with a little grin.

The second grabbed his shirt by his shoulder and yanked him towards the door. "It seems we have an infestation problem."

Hotch tried not to fight them. "What?" he asked as they took him towards the door.

"Your daughter has apparently decided to take a little journey through the school, and you are going to get her back for us."

Hotch pulled out of the man's grip. "My daughter?" he asked trying to sound shocked. "How do you know it's her?"

The second in command stared him down. "Because our men have seen her!"

Hotch licked his lips as his mind raced. "I don't know where she is!"

The leader shoved him down the hall. "Doesn't matter!"

**XXXXX**

Kahlan and them froze as they watched the men collect Hotch. She looked at Rossi. "What are they going to do?"

Rossi licked his lips and winced. "I really don't know, Kiddo."

**XXXXX**

Joey froze when she heard the familiar ping of the loudspeaker.

"This if for the little girl running around the school. I want you to listen to this," a man's voice came on.

**XXXXX**

The leader held out the microphone to Hotch who had been forced to his knees in front of him. "Tell her to get back to the big gym."

Hotch licked his lips. "No."

The man backhanded him across the face. "You'll do it or you will regret it!"

"What? Can't your men handle a little girl?" Hotch asked him as sarcasm made its way to the surface.

The man punched him in the face. "Tell her to get back to the gym!"

Hotch reached up and wiped the blood off the corner of his mouth and laughed. "She's like a fox! You'll never catch her and she'll have all of your men running around in circles!"

The man grabbed his shoulders and kicked him in the gut. The air gushed out of Hotch and he bent over in pain.

**XXXXX**

Kahlan's eyes teared up. They couldn't see what was happening but they could hear it all because the unsub had left the mic on. She chewed on her lip as her hands balled into fists, and Rossi put his arm around her.

**XXXXX**

The leader took out his pistol and cocked it. "Last chance. Either tell that brat to get back to the gym or you die!"

Hotch straightened himself back up and locked eyes with the man as he panted, and he finally nodded. "Ok." The man smiled and handed the mic to him. Hotch licked his lips one more time and held it close to his mouth. "Hey Sweetheart, it's Daddy," Hotch started. "I want you to listen to me very carefully. These men know you're out of the gym, and I need you to. . ." He took a deep breath as his eyes locked with the leader again. "Run, Sweetheart! They're looking for you!" he got out before the leader pistol whipped him.

"You son of a bitch!" the leader cried as Hotch sunk to the floor, unconscious.

**XXXXX**

Joey's hand flew to her mouth to stop the scream that wanted to escape. _No, Daddy!_ The ping sounded and Joey knew the message was over. She took a deep breath and looked around. She swallowed hard. _He's ok! If they were going to kill him, they'd had done it over the loudspeaker so I would hear it, right?_ She ran a hand down her face. _Yes, they would have. _She slowed her breathing and pushed herself up from where she had squatted down.

She stood up, squared her shoulders, and her stare emerged. _I'll get out, Daddy! I'll make you proud!_ After taking a look around the corner and seeing the way clear, she ran to the steps that she knew went to the roof.

**XXXXX**

Not one person in the trailer said a word; they were all staring at Kahlan. Chuck took a reflective step back as he shot a look to Morgan. He was half expecting her to explode.

She swallowed hard, licked her lips, and then laughed. Rossi let go of her and stepped back. He shot a look to the team and they could tell he thought she may have lost it. She cleared her throat and looked at them. "They actually thought he was going to give up his little girl? That shows that none of them are parents."

Rossi took a step closer to her. "They didn't kill him."

She nodded. "I know. They would have done that over the speaker."

"So you're ok?" Chuck asked.

She inhaled deeply and then nodded. "Yeah." And they all visibly relaxed.

**XXXXX**

Maddie's father, Steve, and Billy's mother, Judy, cringed when the doors opened and two unsubs drug Hotch in by the shoulders and then dropped him to the floor. Steve and the man who had declared himself a doctor ran over to him. The doctor checked Hotch's head and then ripped off a piece of his shirt and held it to the bleeding gash near Hotch's left temple. Hotch moaned and tried to knock the man's hand away, but Steve grabbed his hand. "Easy, Aaron, it's just us!"

Hotch's eyes fluttered open and he tried to get them to focus on the men leaning down by him. He winced as his head started pounding. He tried to sit up, but the doctor pushed him back down. "Just take it easy. You might have a concussion."

Judy stood up and went to the guards by the door. "May I at least go get some water for him?"

The man nodded and then motioned for her to go to the restroom.

She came back with a plastic cup full and took it to Hotch. "My God! I thought they were going to kill you," she told him as she held the cup to his lips as the doctor supported him.

He took a couple drinks and then nodded his thanks. "I could tell he wasn't serious about that."

Steve leaned in close. "Is Maddie and Billy in on this, too?"

Hotch shook his head and then winced with the movement. "No. It's just Joe."

The doctor looked around at all of them and then looked to Hotch. "You knew she was going to do that?"

Hotch grinned. "Yeah, but I didn't actually think they would find out about it until it was too late."

The doctor shook his head and then checked Hotch's wound. "The bleeding's stopped."

Hotch nodded. "Thank you. I'm Aaron Hotchner, by the way."

The doctor shook his hand. "Sam Butler, Katie's dad."

Maddie's dad laughed. "It's sad, I've gotten to know more people through this whole ordeal than through any school function."

Hotch chuckled but it caught in his throat when the leader came back into the gym with a grin on his face. He walked up to Hotch and them, and Hotch got himself standing with Sam and Steve's help. He stood up tall and tried not to act like his head wanted to explode.

"Think you're a smartass, huh? Well, listen to this!" he told him and held out a hand radio.

"I have her. She's on the roof!" a man on the radio reported.

Hotch's insides twisted. "NO!" Hotch screamed as he lunged at the man, but the men beside him grabbed him and held him back and a couple other parents jumped in to help hold him, too.

The leader looked at Hotch and then gave him an evil smile as he raised the radio to his lips. "Do you have her in your sights?"

"Please! Please don't! She's just a little girl!" Hotch pleaded as tears started down his cheeks and he fought against the men holding him. "It's my fault! I told her to do it! If you want to take it out on somebody, shoot me!"

"Take her out. End that brat!" the leader ordered as he ignored Hotch's pleas.

"No! Please! I've never begged for anything, but I'm begging you! That's my baby!" Hotch tried as he fought harder to get away from the men. Automatic gunfire erupted out of the radio and echoed through the gym and Hotch lost the ability to breathe.

"Target is eliminated," the radio reported as the shots came to a halt.

The leader clicked the radio. "Are you certain?"

"I hit her and then she fell. If the shot didn't kill her, the fall did."

Hotch's heart stopped as he went limp. "Noooooo!" he cried and the anguish he felt reverberated throughout the whole gym. The men still held onto him as they lowered him to the floor.

The leader walked up to them and leaned down in front of Hotch. "I guess the fox is dead."

"You son of. . ." Hotch yelled and bolted after him. The man jumped back a step, but the men surrounding Hotch got ahold of him again and pressed him to the floor.

The leader laughed and then left the gym.

**XXXXX**

Chuck jumped for the door. "I'll go check. . . I'll see. . ." He never finished as he ran out the door with Michaela, Morgan, and JJ right on his heels.

Kahlan's face morphed from anger to terror as she lost the ability to breathe. Rossi sank down into the chair behind him and almost missed it and fell.

"I have the shooter in my sights," came a call on the radio. "Am I cleared to take the shot?" After a few moments of silence, he asked again. "Repeat, am I cleared to take the shot?"

Kahlan sucked in air as she fingered the mic, and it took everything in her to force her voice to work. "Negative. Stand down," she got out. "I repeat: stand down."

"Copy that," the man reported and his disappointment was obvious in his tone.

Mack leaned into Reid and whispered through her tears, "I can't believe she just did that. I would have thought for sure. . ."

Reid shook his head. "She couldn't. She knows that the leader would retaliate against those left in the school. She had to put their safety above her own wants," he whispered back to her as he wiped his face.

Kahlan swallowed hard, licked her lips, and ran a hand down her face. Then she took a deep breath and reached into her back pocket. She laid her badge on the counter in front of the monitors. "I can't do this," she uttered and shook her head.

Rossi's head snapped up and saw what she was doing and stood up. "No! Don't you dare think you are going to step out of this now!"

She shook her head again. "This isn't me! I can't sit here in a trailer issuing orders! I'm not Hotch! I need to. . ."

Rossi shook his head as he advanced on her. "No! You are the lead in this and you will see this through! Think about all those other kids left in there!" he spit through his tears.

She clenched her jaw and pulled out of his grasp. "I don't want to think about them! I can't save them! I couldn't even save my own daughter!" she screamed and then broke down.

Rossi pulled her to him and held her close. "Oh, Kiddo, that wasn't your fault! That was that bastard's and he will pay! But we need you to. . ."

"No! I'm going after that son of a bitch! I'm not standing here. . ."

The door opened behind him, and Rossi cringed. He didn't want confirmation from Chuck and them.

**XXXXX**

Once Hotch got his breathing back under control he tried to get out from under the men who were still holding him down. "Get off of me!" he growled and they quickly moved back. He got up on his knees and then looked around. Most everyone had tears in their eyes or trailing down their cheeks. The guards who were left in there had moved closer to the door, but they were watching him closely. He shook his head, stood up, and went to the corner in the little recess of the wall where the fountain was and slid down the wall and turned into the corner. He pulled his knees up and dropped his head into his hands and let himself break.

_Not my little girl! Not my Angel! God, I am so sorry, Joey! I should have never have asked you to do that! _He took a shuddering breath. _It's my fault! The boys. . . Kahlan. . . God. . . I'll never be able to look them in the eyes again!_ He sank down even further. _Dave! They're all going to hate me! _A moan of pain escaped him as his heart broke even more and he struggled to breathe. He had never felt that kind of pain before, and he was sure it was going to kill him; and at that particular point in time, he really didn't care if it did.

Billy and Seth's moms looked at each other, both wondering if they should try and console him. Steve stepped in front of Hotch, though, and shook his head. He knew if it had been his daughter who had just died that he would have needed time on his own, and he knew Hotch enough to know that he was extremely private. He thought it best for Hotch to be left alone, and the women nodded their understanding and they all went back to sitting along the wall, and the only thing that could be heard in the silence of the gym were Hotch's grief stricken cries.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

"Mommy!" Joey yelled and Rossi and Kahlan both turned in a flash.

"Joey!" Kahlan yelled and ran to her as Joey jumped out of Colson's arms and met her halfway.

She jumped into the mother's arms and hugged her neck. Then she pulled back and saw how upset she was and teared up. "What? Is it Daddy? Is he alright? I heard. . ."

Kahlan shook her head. "No! Daddy's ok! I just thought. . . Oh my God! I thought. . ." she couldn't finish as she held her tighter than she had ever held onto anything before. After a few moments, she looked to Colson. "How?"

Colson smiled and then shrugged. "I was trying to stay awake so I went for a perimeter check. Once I got on the back side of the school, I heard yelling and looked up to see that one right on the edge of the roof. Shots rang out and I yelled for her to jump."

"And he caught me, Mommy!" Joey explained with a grin.

Kahlan's knees almost gave out on her. "Oh thank you! I don't. . ."

Colson shook his head as he smiled. "As light as she is, it was nothing!"

Rossi, who had yet been able to catch his breath, finally inhaled deeply and took a step to Kahlan. "Hey you!" he told Joey as he poked her side.

Her smile grew and she jumped into his arms. "Poppi!"

He squeezed her to his chest as tears trailed down his cheeks in relief. "God, Bella! Don't you ever scare your Poppi like that again!"

She giggled against his neck. "I can't breathe, Poppi." He chuckled and let up some and she pulled back to look him in the face. She reached up and wiped his tears away with her fingers. "Don't cry, Poppi. You know I'm too stubborn to let anyone take me from you!"

He chuckled and pulled her back. "I love you, Bella!"

XXX

Once Kahlan called and got Chuck and them back and they all got over the shock of Joey not being dead, Joey told them all about everything that had happened starting with the most recent, her journey through the school, and going backwards to when it all started. They knew most of it, but Hotch had tasked her with a mission, and they were going to let her fulfill it. "And I hid Daddy's pistol in the fountain, and then. . ."

"What?!" Kahlan interrupted as she stood up and looked at Joey and then to the monitor that showed the gym.

"I hid his pistol in the fountain," Joey repeated not knowing why that was so important.

"Oh no!" Kahlan exclaimed as her heart clenched.

"What?" Rossi asked as he stood up. Seeing how disturbed she was getting was scaring him.

She ran a hand through her hair. "He's not just sulking in that corner!" she yelled as she pointed to the monitor that showed just the end of one of Hotch's shoes because he was in the recess.

Rossi's eyes widened as he realized what she was talking about. "We've got to stop him!"

She shook her head. "Yeah! But how? He thinks that SOB killed his daughter!"

Rossi ran a hand down his face as he looked at Joey.

Joey looked back and forth between them and it finally dawned on her that they were thinking her daddy was going to use his pistol to get revenge. "Let me talk to him over the intercom like you did me. He'll know I'm ok!"

Kahlan thought about it for a second and then shook her head. "No, then they'll know you're ok, too."

Joey winced because she hadn't thought about that.

"What's something Hotch would understand as being about Joey that no one else would understand?" Reid asked them.

Kahlan eyes darted around as she tried to think. Rossi pursed his lips as he did the same, but he was drawing a blank.

**XXXXX**

Hotch finally got himself calmed down enough to think. He made sure no one was paying him any real attention and made his way over to the fountain slowly. Once he was close enough, he got his pistol. He didn't need or want his badge; he wasn't SSAIC Hotchner right then, all he was, was a broken father fueled by anger and the want for revenge. _Come back in here, you son of a bitch! You'll be dead before they even know there's a problem!_

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew the move would probably get him killed, that their automatic rifles would cut him down before he could take them all out, but he didn't care. He knew he could take the leader out, and that's all he cared about as he sat and stared at the floor. The look on his face had anyone who was close enough to see it, shuddering and quickly looking away; the Hotch stare was the most malicious it had ever been.

After what seemed like forever to him, the intercom pinged and he cringed. He didn't want to hear anything from that speaker again. He only had one want left in his heart, and he knew that made him a horrible person, but he didn't care about that either.

His breath hitched in his chest, though, as familiar music started. His eyes squeezed shut as his heart screamed. The Temptations' 'My Girl' was starting and his chest threatened to collapse in on itself as he bit his lip and started crying again as he pictured dancing with his daughter. The music stopped almost as soon as it started, and he died a little more inside as he realized he would never get the chance to dance with his daughter again. _Why would you play that? Why would you do that to me now?_

He sucked in air and tried to calm himself again. _Wait! _His eyes darted around. _How could they know. . ._ His heart sped up. _They couldn't. . . No one knew I played that song for her, except her! _A glimmer of hope burst into life in his chest and it burned away the tightness. _Oh my God! She's alive! _A whimper escaped him and he put a hand over his mouth. _She's alive!_ He hid his face behind his hands as a smile grew big enough to reveal his dimples and tears started anew only that time they were tears of joy. He wasn't sure how it had happened or why, but he didn't care. _My little Angel is alive!_

**XXXXX**

"You think it worked?" Joey asked as she stared at the monitor that showed the gym.

Kahlan took a deep breath. "I believe so, Pumpkin."

Joey relaxed and then spun in the chair to look at her mother, but her eyes were drawn to one of the other monitors. "What happened to Mrs. Jordan?" she asked as she basically climbed up on the bank of monitors to get a closer look at the image frozen on the screen that Hotch had gotten of the unidentified woman.

Rossi's brows rose. "You know who that is?"

Joey nodded. "Yeah. That's Mrs. Jordan, the new librarian."

"How can you be sure? There isn't enough there to really identify her?" Kahlan asked her.

Joey's head ducked down. "Cause I thought her shoes were ugly."

"What?" Rossi asked as he bit back a grin.

Joey sighed. "I saw her shoes at the dance and I thought they were ugly." She looked at her mother. "I didn't tell anyone that!" she assured her.

Kahlan gave her a stern look. "Good. You know better than to be mean," she told her and then flipped a switch and got Garcia and Cam on the screen. "Joey says the woman in Hotch's video is Mrs. Jordan, a school employee." They both looked shocked and Kahlan laughed. "She recognizes her ugly shoes," she added to answer their unasked question.

Garcia laughed. "Well, she has a point. Who in their right mind would wear those shoes with that dress?"

"I know, right?" Joey quickly agreed.

"We didn't look into school employees," Cam put in as he shook his head at the girls.

**XXXXX**

Hotch's mind raced. He still didn't know what the unsubs wanted but he knew things needed to end. He also knew things were not going to end well on their own. _I don't understand it. I knew he wasn't going to shoot me, but he gave the order to kill Joey. . . That doesn't make any sense!_ He swallowed hard. _He can't do it himself. . . What the hell does that tell me? _He shook his head. _Well, now they can't possibly think that after killing a man and a child that they're just going to walk out of here. So what is their plan to get out? _He took a deep breath. _They have to have something planned as a distraction so they can make their escape once their job is done._

He ran everything that had happened over in his head trying to figure out if he had seen anything that might tell him what that plan was. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. As he pictured being in the school's office with the leader and the loudspeaker microphone, his hand balled into a fist. _Son of a bitch!_

He looked at the watch, but then cringed as he looked around. It was way too quiet for him to use it. He wasn't sure if everyone was scared into being silent or if they were doing it out of respect for him, but he really needed some noise so he could contact his team. He locked eyes with Judy and she gave him a little nod as her eyes told him how sorry she was. He nodded and then looked towards the door. She followed his gaze and then looked at Steve. Steve's brows furrowed as he tried to figure out what was going on. Hotch huffed. _How is it the kids can figure out what the other is thinking but the adults can't?_ He sighed. _It's because they play together. If my team was in here, they'd know what I wanted._

Hotch took a deep breath and made sure the unsubs weren't paying him attention and then locked eyes with Steve. He made a motion with his hand and then innocently touched his ear hoping the man would understand. Steve's brows furrowed some more, but Judy scooted a little closer to him and started asking about his job. Sam caught on, too, after watching all of them and pulled the woman he was sitting beside into a conversation, too.

Hotch chuckled. _Leave it to the woman to figure it out. _He shook his head. _It's because they're smarter than us when it comes to hidden messages. _Once he was sure there was enough background noise, he fingered the watch. "I got the message. Thank you," he whispered and took a deep breath. "I think I aged twenty years, but we'll discuss that later. While I was in the office, I noticed two of the men had a chalky, dust, type stuff all over their pants." He paused as a guard made his round. "They have to have an escape plan, some way to get out when they're done. The dust made me think of the basement. I don't know if that's really it or not, but I think someone needs to check it out." The watched blinked once and he nodded. "I also have my pistol on me now just so you know."

**XXXXX**

Kahlan looked at Chuck and Morgan. "Does the map of the school show the basement?"

Reid unrolled it and spread it out on the table as they all gathered around it. They all studied it and Kahlan shook her head. "I don't see anything that could be used as an escape route."

Reid licked his lips and looked at her. "What do you know about the history of the school?"

Kahlan shrugged. "Just general stuff. What are you thinking?"

"With the type of architecture, I would say it was built in the early 1900's. If that's the case, depending on what its original use was, there might be places in that basement that aren't shown on this map."

Chuck looked at Kahlan and smiled. "Only one way to be sure."

She nodded. "Go. Take a couple people and check it out."

Morgan and JJ jumped up and followed him out the door.

Rossi sat down as he looked at Kahlan. "So we have kids in the little gym, their parents in the big gym, both kids and parents spilt up in two classrooms, and eleven armed men in various places. Are you thinking a large scale op to try and take them all out at once?"

She pursed her lips as she considered it.

"I would suggest getting the kids in the little gym out first. Without any adults with them, they might panic if they hear anything," Colson put in.

Kahlan nodded. "Agreed."

**XXXXX**

Time started to drag by and Hotch had to wonder if anyone on the outside was actually doing anything or not. _There're probably too many agencies out there and they're all fighting over who is going to do what. _He shook his head. _And God knows some bureaucrat is probably in charge of it all who wants to the unsubs to end it._ He huffedas he drew his knees up and put his hands on them. His watch blinked and his brows furrowed. _Did I hit that on accident?_ He shook his head and turned it back off. After a moment, it turned back on and he froze. "Sorry," he whispered to it. "I didn't realize."

**XXXXX**

Kahlan chuckled as she watched him on the monitor. "Well, now that you have his attention, tell him what time," she told Cam through the monitor.

Cam nodded and sent the message.

**XXXXX**

Hotch watched as the watch blinked back off, and started to think that it was malfunctioning. He huffed. Then it came back on for a split second and then back off. His brows furrowed. When it came back on and stayed on, he looked at it. "You're trying to tell me something." It blinked once. His mind raced. _What would they be trying to tell me. . . Oh shit! They're telling me when they're coming in!_ He licked his lips and actually checked the time. "It went off twice. Are you saying two o'clock?" It blinked once. He inhaled deeply. "And did someone check the basement?" It blinked again, and he looked around the gym. After a moment, he looked back at the watch. "Well, I guess since I'm in here, I'll just focus on these people and let you all worry about everyone else." It blinked again and then turned off and stayed off.

He took a deep breath as he looked around again. _Thirty-six minutes. Please let this get resolved as quietly as possible._


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

"So, Nicholson should be done in about thirty minutes. You know they're never going to let us just walk out of here after killing Stewart and Tutle's daughter. What are we going to do?" an unsub asked his leader as they sat in the main lobby.

"Tutle? Who are you talking about?" another unsub asked.

"That guy in the big gym. The one whose daughter got killed on the roof," he clarified.

"I went through the licenses. There isn't anyone here named Tutle."

The leader's head snapped to him. "What?!"

He held up his hands. "I looked at every one of them just like you told me to."

The leader stood up. "Get me the licenses. I want to know why he thinks he had to lie to us." The other man stood up and went to get them. The leader shook his head. "What's he trying to hide?"

The second in command shrugged. "He apparently figured out why we were separating people and didn't want to be that group."

The man came back with a stack of driver's licenses and handed them to the leader. He quickly started throwing them on the floor as he went through them. After getting through most of them, he held one in his hand and dropped the rest. "His name is Hotchner," he told his second.

He flipped through a clip board and snorted in disgust. "He's a God damned FBI agent!"

The leader let out a growl and headed for the gym, and his men quickly followed him.

**XXXXX**

Kahlan looked at the people around her as they stood outside the command trailer. "So we all know what we're doing?"

They all nodded.

She took a deep breath. "Alright then, get to your posts and await the signal. I don't need to remind you all that this needs to be done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Even with this many civilians, I expect zero casualties so watch each other's backs and keep yourselves and those hostages safe!"

Chuck grinned. "Yes, Ma'am!" and they all dispersed.

**XXXXX**

Hotch's head snapped to the gym doors as they were slammed them open. When the leader of the unsubs stormed through them and his eyes immediately found Hotch, he cringed. _Oh shit! Now what?_

"You really think you're smart, don't you?" the leader screamed as he made his way over to Hotch.

Judy jumped up and got in front of the armed men. "Leave him alone! You've killed his only daughter! Haven't you hurt him enough?"

The leader backhanded her across the face and she stumbled to the floor. Hotch and Steve ran to her, but she waved them off, and Hotch stood up and faced the leader. "Leave them alone! They haven't done anything!"

The leader laughed as he pointed his pistol at Hotch's face, and he froze. _Son of a bitch!_

"Do they know who you are, Mr. Hotchner? Oh wait, I guess it's Agent Hotchner, isn't it?" the leader asked him as he moved close enough that his pistol was inches from Hotch's nose.

Hotch squared his shoulders as his stare emerged. "So you finally figured it out. Now what are you going to do, kill me, too?"

**XXXXX**

"Agent Hotchner!" one of the techs in the trailer yelled from the door. Kahlan and Rossi both looked towards her. "They're in the gym!" she yelled and Kahlan didn't need to hear anything else, she ran to see what was happening with Rossi and Colson right on her heels.

**XXXXX**

"That was a smart move on your part. You must be pretty proud of yourself," the leader mused with a smile, but the anger in his eyes told Hotch exactly what he was really feeling.

Hotch licked his lips. "That was actually my daughter's idea. Seems she's smarter than you and your men!"

"You mean, she was," the leader told him sarcastically.

Hotch hands balled into fists and it took every ounce of will power he had not to go after the man.

"Oh does that piss you off?" the leader asked and then laughed.

And that did it, Hotch lunged for him, but the second in command slammed the butt of his rifle into Hotch's manhood and Hotch dropped to his knees with a grunt followed by a low groan, and the leader laughed. "I'm not going to kill you yet, but don't worry, it's coming!" He turned to his men. "Bring him!"

Two of the men quickly grabbed Hotch by the shoulders and drug him out of the gym as they followed their leader. Hotch didn't fight them; he was struggling not to throw up from the pain.

**XXXXX**

Kahlan looked at Rossi. "We've got to go now!"

Rossi looked at his watch and then shook his head. "We can't if you want to wait for Chuck and them to get the kids out."

"But. . ."

"If they wanted him dead, they would have killed him right then. We have time. Let's stick to the plan."

She took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. "I really hope you're right about this, Dave."

Rossi nodded. _Please God, please don't let me be wrong!_

**XXXXX**

Once Hotch could breathe and think again, he looked around and then wondered why they were dragging him to the theater. The men forced him to his knees in a corner and then one of them yanked his hands behind him and zip tied his wrists together. His pistol was digging into him, and he prayed none of them noticed it poking into the material of his pants. He shifted his legs to try and relieve some of the pain between his legs, but it felt like his balls had been slammed up inside of him. He swallowed hard as he watched the men.

With the amount of men in there, he had to wonder who was guarding the hostages. _Two in the big gym, one at the little gym, six in here. . . that leaves only two watching the other people. Where the hell are they keeping them?_ He took a deep breath as he looked at the clock on the wall. _Thirteen minutes. . . Shit! I really hope they were watching and know I'm not in the gym anymore._ His heart skipped a beat when he saw a man unzip a gym bag full of plastic explosive. _Son of a bitch!_ He fingered the watch and tried to turn enough so it could pick up what he was seeing.

**XXXXX**

"Kay!" Cam yelled as soon as he saw her getting ready to go out the door. She turned back towards the monitor. "Hotch is transmitting again!"

She ran back to the monitor but they really couldn't see a whole lot. "Is that rope?" she asked Rossi.

Rossi studied the image. "I think so. They've. . ." he started but stopped as soon as they heard someone start talking.

**XXXXX**

"Oh, don't like our little surprise, huh?" the leader asked as he walked over to Hotch.

Hotch looked him in the eyes. "You don't honestly think anyone will fall for that trick, do you? Forensics are too quick anymore. They will know none of you are in the rubble caused by an explosion."

**XXXXX**

Kahlan and Rossi locked eyes. "Explosion?" Rossi asked quietly hoping he had heard wrong. Kahlan slammed a fist down on the counter and then grabbed her radio.

**XXXXX**

The leader laughed as he pulled off his tactical mask. "They'll be so worried trying to find all of those precious children that by the time they do realize we aren't in there, it'll be too late. We'll disappear back into the woodwork just like before all this started."

Hotch mentally cringed when the man took off his mask because he knew they definitely didn't have any plans of him living through the whole thing if they were allowing him to see them. _Well, you might as well try and get as much out of him before it happens. _He licked his lips. "Why?"

The man leaned on the stage behind him. "Why are we doing all of this?"

"Yeah."

He laughed. "I guess it doesn't matter if you know or not, you'll be the first one dead so you won't able to tell anyone." He shrugged. "I'm not sure you'd understand, but it's payback."

Hotch's brows furrowed. "Payback? For what?"

"For being left high and dry by our own government."

Hotch's face showed his anger. "You're pissed at the government and you take it out on a dance for elementary kids and their parents? How the hell does that make any sense?"

The man laughed again. He gestured to the room around him. "This? This was all a smoke screen. We were only after one person, but that person couldn't be gotten to outright so we had to go after him through other means."

Hotch's brows furrowed even more. "Other means?"

The man shrugged. "You wouldn't understand. You go to work, you do what you're told like a good little agent, and everything is fine. Life goes on. I bet you've never had the man who told you what to do deny that you even existed and then leave you for dead."

Hotch took a deep breath as his mind raced. _Keep him talking, Hotchner! Maybe he'll give away his real target._ "So because some idiot double crossed you, or whatever, you kill innocent men and children? You aren't any better than he is!"

The man shrugged. "Collateral damage."

Hotch huffed. "Nice! You black ops people make me sick!"

The man laughed and pushed himself off the stage as he looked at his watch. "Don't worry, Nicholson should be almost done. Once we get the call from him, you'll be joining your daughter."

**XXXXX**

Kahlan didn't have to say anything, every tech in the trailer and Cam and Garcia were hitting the keys so fast she couldn't even distinguish between individual key strokes. She took a deep breath and blew it out. She looked at Rossi and Colson. "We have to delay. If we go in now. . . they're liable to set off whatever bomb they have before we can get to it. We need to reorganize and figure out where and the hell that bomb is!"

Colson ran a hand down his face. "How about thermal? If we can pick up where they are that isn't around the hostages. . ."

"Cam?" Kahlan asked.

Cam didn't even look up as he still typed. "I don't have a thermal sat online. Maybe one of the handhelds would work."

Kahlan ran a hand through her hair as she huffed.

"But once they notice the kids are out of that gym. . ." Rossi started as he looked at his watch. They were supposed to be going in in eight minutes.

Kahlan's brows furrowed as she looked at him. "Play back the last footage we have of them taking Hotch."

The footage started and they all studied it. "And we lose them as soon as they take that next right," Cam told her.

"Let's see. . . The theatre, the band room. . . Ahhh, what else is down there?" she asked no one in particular. "The utility room. . ."

"Theater?" Rossi asked. She nodded. "That rope could be the back of the stage."

She smiled. "You're right! That has to be where they are." She put the radio to her lips and told everyone to hold their positions and for the team leaders to report back to the command trailer. Then she looked to Rossi and Colson. "Come on, we have a little reorganizing to do."

**XXXXX**

"Are you going to blow up the whole school?" Hotch asked the second in command as the man readied two bricks of C4 with blasting caps. All of the unsubs had taken off their masks and the scar going down that man's face attested to the hard life he'd had.

The man smiled at him. "Curious fucker, aren't you?"

Hotch shrugged. "Call me morbid, but I'd like to know how I'm going to die."

The man snorted. "Nah, we're going to set the theatre up and bring everyone in here. Think of it as the last scene of your final act," he finished with a laugh.

Hotch rolled his eyes. _Real funny, asshole!_ He took a deep breath and prayed that the watch was still transmitting. He shifted and tried to get more comfortable. His pain was easing up, but his worry was growing. _Come on, whoever's out there, you need to hurry the hell up!_


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

Hotch sunk down to sit on his heels as he watched the unsubs rigging plastic explosives, blasting caps, and wire all around the theater. He was no explosives expert, but he could tell they had enough to level the giant room and had he not been watching where they were putting it, he'd never be able to find it with as expertly as they were hiding it. _Son of a bitch! _He turned when someone dropped something behind him and he used that as an excuse to let his watch scan the whole theater. _Maybe if I can get one of their faces, the team can identify him and his buddies._

"What the hell are you doing?" the second in command, or Scar as Hotch had taken to calling him in his head, asked as he yanked on Hotch's shoulder and pulled him back around.

Hotch held his chin up. "Just trying to see if I can figure out a way to stop you all."

The man laughed. "You got balls, I'll give you that."

Hotch shrugged. "When you don't have anything to lose, you get desperate."

The man studied him and then smiled. "You would have made a great operative."

Hotch huffed. "I don't think so. I actually have a conscience and morals."

The man laughed again. "Yeah? But yet you'd kill Rick the first chance you got because he had your daughter killed." He licked his lips. "We're not as different as you try to let yourself believe," he finished and then walked away.

Hotch's eyes bored into the man's back as he walked down the aisle. _I'm not like you!_ He took a deep breath. _Am I?_

**XXXXX**

Michaela nudged Chuck's leg. "What are you waiting for?" she whispered as she watched the children playing in the auxiliary gym. They had climbed up to one of the high windows to see what was going on.

"Shhh," he urged her and she shook her head. They had been tasked to get the kids out. When they figured out the doors had been chained from the inside, Chuck suggested they go through a window, get a door open, and then get the kids out. Kahlan liked the idea and sent them to do it.

Chuck finally pulled back away from the window they had cut a small opening in. "I was recording them so I can put a player beside the door to help keep up the charade."

Michaela smiled. "Nice!"

Chuck nodded and started cutting the glazing around the window so they could get the full pane of glass out. "I just hope they don't spaz out and start screaming when they see me."

She winced and then shook her head. "Joey's friends know you, don't they?"

Chuck nodded as he passed the glass down the ladder. "A couple do. This will only work if we can get them out without the unsubs hearing us."

Michaela licked her lips. "Well, you're not dressed like them, so hopefully they realize you're friendly."

He nodded. "I hope so."

"We'll be at the door," she assured him and went back down the ladder and joined the other agents all waiting to escort the children to safety.

Chuck readied himself as he looked around. None of the kids saw him, and he smiled when he saw Maddie playing with Billy. Chuck licked his lips and whistled. Sure enough, both Maddie and Billy looked around. He motioned with his hand trying to get their attention and then Billy pointed to him. Chuck quickly put his finger to his mouth to signal them to be quiet, and they nodded.

He made his way through the window and had to hold back a chuckle because of the shock on some of the kids' faces as they watched him basically scale down the bare wall. Billy and Maddie ran up to him as most of the kids continued playing. They were smart enough to know that they needed to keep the noise level up. Chuck wrapped his arm around Billy's shoulders and leaned in close to him. "Think you could get that guard to come in here?"

He nodded but he folded his arms across his chest. "Yes, but not until after you tell us that Joey is alright."

Chuck smiled. "She's fine. In fact, she's outside waiting for you guys."

Maddie looked towards the doors and then looked to the window. "You don't expect us to climb up there, do you?"

Chuck laughed. "Nah, I'll open a door for you after I take care of that jerk in the hall."

They both smiled and Billy motioned for the door and Chuck nodded. They all ran towards it and Chuck hid up against the wall as he took out his pistol.

"Hey, Mister! Hey, Mister! I gotta pee!" Billy yelled as he held himself as if struggling to contain his bladder.

The guard opened the door a little and stuck his head in. "Then go to the damn restroom, you ignorant brat!" he yelled as he pointed to the bathroom across the gym.

Billy shook his head as he danced a little. "But Timmy's in there and has been a while! I can't wait any longer!" he whined as he crossed his legs. "Please, Mister!"

The man huffed and opened the door as he made to enter. "I'll get him out!" he declared and started into the room.

As soon as he the door shut behind him, Chuck jumped to him and held his pistol to the back of the man's head. "I wouldn't do that if I was you!" Chuck hissed as he cocked the pistol to let him know exactly how serious he was. The man froze, and Chuck reached around and grabbed his assault rifle from him. "I'll take that! Now, move!" Chuck told him as he motioned for the back door.

As the man walked, his hand drifted to his radio on his hip, but Chuck saw it and one swift hit to the back of the man's head made him crumble to the floor before he could warn any of his buddies. Chuck shook his head and grabbed him by the collar and drug him to the door. He dropped him and started in on the padlock that held the doors chained. Once that was open he picked the lock on the door and opened it. Michaela and the other agents rushed in. Chuck pointed to the unconscious man and then looked at a young agent standing by the door. "You're the closest in size. Strip him and get his clothes on."

The man nodded and a couple other agents helped him as the others got the kids ready. Chuck ran back to the main doors and put the digital recorder down and pressed play. Anyone on the out in the hall would think all the kids were having a great time. He smiled and then went back to the door he opened.

He knelt down next to Billy. "That was a great job! Make sure you tell Joe you helped me out."

He nodded and ran out to find her as Chuck shook his head. _I sure hope Cass find a friend like him when she gets bigger._

Once the agent was ready in the unsubs things, he took up post out in the hall in case anyone came down to check on anything. Chuck took one last look around the gym to make sure all the kids were out and then went out the door, too.

Police and agents quickly got the kids onto a bus and took them to a staging area to reunite them with their other parent or family member who had been contacted when the whole thing had started and Chuck and Michaela reported back to Kahlan and readied for the next phase of the plan.

**XXXXX**

Once the unsubs had the theater ready, the leader had his men go collect the adults out of the big gym first. Hotch started to get really nervous, and apparently the leader realized it. He pulled up two chairs and motioned for Hotch to sit in one. Hotch didn't see any reason not to, but he kicked the metal folding chair around and sat in it backwards. One, he wanted to use the back of the chair to help hide his pistol, and two, with his hands bound behind him it would be more comfortable. The leader chuckled at him as he gently lowered himself down to the seat and Hotch would have given anything to be able to hit the man. Once Hotch was situated, the leader sat down in the other and studied him. "You actually think you are going to get rescued, don't you?"

Hotch held his chin up. "No. I know I will."

The leader laughed. "Really? Cause I have one of my guys on the phone with their negotiator making a deal as we speak."

Hotch brows furrowed. "You don't want a deal. You want to kill all these people."

He nodded. "Yep, but they don't know that and they won't dare try breeching this school if they're under the assumption that we are trying for a peaceful ending," he pointed out with an evil smile.

Hotch licked his lips; he knew the truth of that, and he really hoped his watch was still broadcasting or at least it had broadcasted enough that whoever was outside knew the truth. He inhaled deeply. "So if all you wanted was to get back at whomever, why do you need to follow through with killing all of these innocent people? They've never done anything to you."

The man ran a hand down his face. "I told you, so we can escape."

Hotch studied him some more. "But you already have an escape route planned."

The man smiled again. "I like you. It's a shame you're going to be dead soon."

"Come on! You don't have to do this! If you fought for the government then you must feel some pride or something for this country! How can you kill so many of the people you fought for?"

The leader gave him a look that chilled Hotch to the bone. "What makes you think I care about any of that? Maybe I just like killing and doing it for the government gave me the means to indulge my inner beast."

Hotch swallowed hard and leaned back a little. "You're a psychopath!"

He laughed as he stood up. "Yep!" he exclaimed lightly as he walked away from him and jumped off the stage.

Hotch shook his head. _So much for trying to reason with him._

**XXXXX**

The three unsubs who had gone to the big gym looked around in shock. The gym was empty and their buddies were nowhere to be seen. One man grabbed his radio, but they all sunk to the ground unconscious before any of them even could let anyone else know. Chuck smiled as he approached the prone men and keyed his comm link. "Three more down," he reported.

**XXXXX**

Colson ushered the hostages out of one of the smaller classrooms and keyed his comm link. "Group one is secured. One perp down."

**XXXXX**

Rossi made a few marks on the map in front of him and smiled. _That's seven. Only four more. . ._

Morgan quickly reported that Group two was in the process of getting out and one more unsub was taken care of, and Rossi took a deep breath. _Make that three more and only one hostage left._ His chest tightened, though, because that one hostage was the man he loved like a son. He ran a hand down his face._ Alright, Kiddo, work your magic. _

**XXXXX**

Hotch tensed when he saw the leader and Scar get into a heated discussion. _Now what the hell is going on?_ He licked his lips and looked around. _It sure is taking a while for the unsubs to bring the hostages. . . Oh God, I hope nothing's happened to them!_

Hotch brows furrowed when the leader called for someone on the radio and didn't get a response. He bit back a grin. _They're here!_

The leader quickly called for someone else, and when he didn't get a response from him either, he threw his radio down and then started yelling at the other men left with him.

Hotch was about to say something smartass, but he startled as hot breath filled his ear, "Shhhhh. . ." His heart skipped a beat and he felt pressure on the zip tie around his wrists. Suddenly his wrists were free and he turned his head slightly. "Jesus Christ, Kahlan! You could have warned me!" he hissed.

She giggled and pulled on his arm. "Come on," she whispered and led him further into the recesses of the stage.

As soon as they were hidden from sight, she pulled him into a bone crushing hug. He wrapped his arms around her for a second and then pushed her back enough to look at her. "Is everyone safe?"

She nodded. "Of course!"

He gave her a grin. "Then only three left."

"Three left," she agreed as she pulled her pistol out.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

Hotch took his pistol out of his pocket and looked back towards the theater. He saw Kahlan studying him and he gave her a quick grin. "I'm fine."

She huffed as she took in the bruises on his face, the gash on his head, and mentally cringed as she imagined the bruises elsewhere on him. She shook her head and motioned for him to lead the way. "After you."

He took a deep breath and nodded as he made his way to the edge of the stage curtain they'd been hiding behind. Suddenly bullets ripped through the top of the curtain and both Hotchner's froze.

"I know you're back there, Agent Hotchner! Come out before a stray bullet sends you to your daughter!" the leader yelled.

Hotch's hand balled into a fist as he looked at his wife. _I can't let them hit her on accident! _She shook her head immediately knowing what he was about to do. He held a finger to his lips, slipped his pistol back into his pocket, and then put his hands behind him as if he was still restrained and walked out from behind the curtain. The three unsubs who were left had all of their guns aimed at him, but Hotch stood up tall and gave them an innocent grin. "I thought maybe one of the back doors were open."

Scar laughed and shook his head. "You gotta hand it to him, he's funny as shit!"

The leader huffed and motioned for Hotch to come to him. "I admit, I'm impressed by whoever is handling things out there, but things aren't over yet!"

Hotch licked his lips. "How do you figure that? Apparently all of the other hostages have been rescued."

The man smiled. "But I still have you!"

Hotch huffed. "Me? I'm just a lowly agent and you took away the only family I had left. What makes you think that you can use me as leverage? No one cares about me," he tried as he slowly walked to the edge of the stage. His eyes trailed back behind him to give his wife one more glance, but she was gone. He tried to look around to find her without making it too obvious, but he couldn't. _What the hell? _He took a deep breath and looked at the unsubs. "Just give yourselves up. They have you beat."

The leader gave him an evil grin. "Not yet. I'm going to see how many of them I can take with me," he explained as he held up a cell phone.

Hotch's brows furrowed as he studied them; he could tell that shocked the other two men. Scar actually looked scared, and Hotch's insides twisted. _Shit! He's going to blow this whole place up with us in it! Son of a bitch!_

The leader advanced to the stage, jumped up, and went towards Hotch. Hotch took a step back and tried to keep himself turned enough that none of them noticed his hands weren't bound. He looked around with quick eyes. _Where the hell are you, Babe? Did you hear that?_

"Or maybe I'll just kill you and then blow the place up as we escape," the leader told him with a laugh.

Hotch licked his lips. "They're bound to be all over this place. You'll never get out of here."

He laughed again. "All the more reason to go with the first option, then."

Hotch cringed. _Really, Hotchner? You had to say that out loud?_ He took a deep breath and studied the man. _No, he's too much of a coward. He wouldn't kill himself; he couldn't even kill me!_ Hotch gave him a grin. "Go ahead. Press send. Kill us all! At least I'll be with my daughter! Where will you be?"

The man licked his lips as his phone vibrated in his hand. The noise made Hotch flinch, and the man laughed at him. "Yeah, you're really ready to die. Ha!" he turned away from Hotch and answered his phone as the other two men moved closer to the stage.

Hotch's mind raced. _Shit! This is the call they've been waiting on! God damn it! _He looked around again and still couldn't see where Kahlan was. _There has to be more people in here, right? What the hell is the plan, Babe?_

"What? Who is this?!" the leader demanded as he put the phone on speaker and the anger in his tone had all of the men sharing glances, wondering what was going on.

"This is just a courtesy call to let you know your plan failed," came a female voice on the line.

Hotch's chest tightened because he knew the voice was his wife's.

"What!?" the leader screamed.

"I thought you should know that your handler, Agent Jones, is still alive and kicking and that Mrs. Jordan's boyfriend didn't quite make it to the scheduled meeting because he was detained," the caller continued and the leader's chest heaved with rage.

He slammed his phone down and then stomped on it. "No!" he screamed.

Hotch laughed and the man slammed a fist into his jaw. Hotch fell back onto his butt clearly not expecting the blow, but he continued to laugh. _Only Kahlan could piss a guy off so much that he can't think!_

"You think this is funny?" the leader screamed as he got closer to Hotch.

Hotch nodded as he continued to laugh. "Yes! You just destroyed your means of blowing us up!" he got out as his chest still shook.

The leader's face morphed from rage to clarity and back to rage as Hotch's words sunk in and he tensed. "I kill you!"

"Rick!" Scar yelled and the man stopped and looked at his second. "Let's just get the hell out of here before they come storming in through those doors!"

Hotch looked back and forth between the men and he could tell the third guy was scared and didn't know what to think. Hotch figured the leader must always throw those kinds of fits because Scar wasn't even phased by it.

Rick ran a hand down his face. "You're right. Let's go!" he said as he grabbed Hotch by the collar and pulled him up. "You're going with us in case I need a shield!"

Hotch intertwined his fingers and hoped none of them realized his hands were free as he swallowed hard. _At least I'll see how they plan on escaping._

"I don't think I want you to do that!" came a woman's voice from the darkened recesses of the theater over by the doors.

All of the men froze as they looked around trying to figure out where the woman was. Rick pulled his pistol and held it to Hotch's head as he pulled him to his chest. "Show yourself or he dies!"

"Go ahead," the voice started and their heads snapped to the right side. "One casualty is a given in an op like this," the voice continued but their heads snapped to the left as that's where it sounded like it was coming from that time.

Hotch huffed. _Really? Thanks, Babe! Love you, too. _He turned his head to the leader. "See? No one cares about little ol' me."

"Shut up!" He cocked the pistol and Hotch couldn't help it, he cringed, but his hand made its way into his pocket because the unsubs weren't paying him any attention as they were still trying to figure out where Kahlan was. "I'll do it! I don't care about collateral damage!"

"Collateral damage?!" came from the left. "Collateral damage is something that can't be avoided!" she screamed from somewhere in the middle.

Hotch almost laughed as the unsubs heads snapped around trying to keep up with her.

"Killing innocents because of your want for revenge isn't collateral damage, it's murder!" she exclaimed from the left again. "Killing a child may be necessary on some ops, like when one is emptying a clip on your team, or when one is running up to you with a bomb strapped to his chest! But not when one is trying to escape from you!"

Hotch's heart hurt. _God, Babe!_ He could tell from the tremor in her tone that she had faced at least one of those situations, if not both of them, before.

Rick licked his lips as his eyes searched the darkened rows of seats before them. "You're one of us!"

Kahlan laughed. "Not even close!"

Scar cocked his machine gun. "Let me cut that bitch down!"

Hotch head snapped to Rick and as soon as Rick started to nod, Hotch slammed his left elbow into the man's face and drew his pistol with his right and shot Scar in the chest as he pulled out of Rick's grasp. Rick stumbled back and fell as the third man turned his rifle on Hotch and Hotch's breath hitched in his chest. A shot rang out and Hotch flinched thinking he had been shot, but the man dropped with a bullet right between the eyes. The air gushed out of Hotch in relief and looked towards the seats as Kahlan came running up.

"Get him!" she yelled as she pointed passed Hotch to Rick who was scrambling towards the stage.

Hotch turned and took off running towards him as Kahlan went to Scar. She knelt down next to him and checked his wound, but she knew nothing could be done as blood bubbled out of his mouth. He laughed. "I told. . . him. . . this would be. . . our last. . . op."

Kahlan shook her head. "It's sad, but if you all had gone to the right person, you would have gotten help! I know what Jones did to your team, and he will pay for what he did to you. I promise you that!" Once they had figured out who they were and tracked down what they had done, she actually felt sorry for the team, but she definitely didn't agree with what they had done since.

He searched her eyes as he struggled to breathe and then he smiled. "Good!" his head turned and he saw Rick jumping onto the stage. "Stop him! He has. . . a hand. . . detonator," he got out and then stilled as death overtook him.

Kahlan's eyes shot open and her head turned just as Hotch tackled the man and they slid into the stage curtain. "Aaron, stop!" she screamed as she jumped up, and the curtain fell over both of the men. She started for the stage, but was blown back into the air as the area around the stage exploded.

**XXXXX**

Rossi's head snapped towards the school as the explosion vibrated through the ground. "Nooo!" he yelled and started running with Morgan and the most of the team on his heels.

**XXXXX**

"Oh my God, No!" Chuck screamed as he started down the hall as dust and debris blew the theater doors opened. Michaela and the other agents with them, who had been ordered to let Kahlan handle the unsubs in the gym, took off with him.

Chuck's breath hitched in his chest as frantic eyes searched, but the dust was too thick. He couldn't see anything and his heart sank at the destruction before them. _God damn it, Kay!_


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

Kahlan moaned as her head pounded. She got herself up on her elbows and the room spun as she opened her eyes. Once her vision settled, her heart stopped. "No!" she screamed as she scrambled to get up.

Chuck was beside her and helping her up before she even realized he was there, but she pulled out of his grasp and started for the stage. "Hotch was. . ." she couldn't finish as she fell to her knees and tears started down her cheeks when she saw how much of the end of the theater had been destroyed.

Chuck dropped beside her as he looked at the stage. "We'll check," he told her and then got up. He didn't see how anyone could have survived the blast, but he knew he had to check for her as he motioned for the agents with him to help.

Kahlan felt like her insides had turned to stone. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, all she could do was stare at what was left of the stage and the last place she had seen her husband, the man she loved more than life itself, alive. When Chuck picked up a piece of the curtain that was obviously bloodstained, her insides clenched even tighter. _Oh my God! I told him to get him! It's my fault! I should have taken them out when I had the chance! _She dropped her head into her hands and bawled. _Oh my God, Aaron! I am so sorry. I was trying not to kill them! I wanted to make you proud!_ She struggled to breathe as her sobs wracked her body; she didn't even feel the scratches and gashes the explosion had left her with; she was too numb to feel anything except grief, painful, horrible grief.

She felt a hand on her back but she didn't look up. She figured it was Rossi and she couldn't bear to face him, not with knowing Hotch's death was her fault. She cried even harder. _Oh my God! The kids. . . Joey. . . They're all going to hate me!_

"Jesus, Babe! Are you alright?" Hotch asked as he knelt down next to her and tried to force her to turn and look at him. He could see blood dripping down from a nasty gash on her shoulder, but he was scared she was seriously hurt.

Her head snapped up, and her eyes went wide as hers locked with his. She stared at him for a second and then looked towards the stage, and then back to him. "But. . . you. . ." She stood up and he stood up with her.

His brows furrowed as he studied her. She had never had a problem speaking before and he worried she had hit her head or something. "Are you alright?" he asked again.

She looked back to the stage. "You blew. . . You were. . ." she pointed to the stage and then pointed to his chest. "I saw. . . you were. . . How?" she finally demanded.

He smiled as he finally figured out what was bothering her. He shrugged. "I saw a damn detonator in his hand as the curtain fell on us. As he went for one of the blocks of C4, I scrambled and got through the trap door in the stage just in time," he explained as he looked her over making sure she wasn't hurt anywhere else.

"What?!" she screamed as she hit him, hard, in the chest, with a fist. He flinched back and looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "I saw you. . . it blew up. . ." she screamed and hit him again. "I blamed myself cause I told you to get him!" she hit him again and he took a step back, but she stepped with him. "I was trying not to kill them!" she hit him again. "I wanted you. . . I thought. . ." and she started a barrage of hits, all aimed at his chest as she started crying again. "You little shit! You scared me! You half witted," she screamed as he tried to back up, but she moved with him again and continued the assault. "Scruffy looking. . ."

"Hey! You like me scruffy looking!" he tried but she kept hitting him.

"I thought you were dead!"

He grabbed her wrists to stop her attack and then pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her tightly. "I'm ok," he assured her as she cried against his chest. "I'm ok," he repeated as he nestled his head down into her hair at her neck. "I'm ok," he kept repeating quietly trying to get her to calm down.

Finally, she took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him hard enough to elicit a groan from him as she sucked in air. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" she demanded into his chest.

He chuckled as he pulled back enough to look her in the eyes. "Yes, Ma'am."

She looked up into his face. "I mean it, Aaron! Or so help me I will kill you myself!"

He smiled enough to show his dimples and then pulled her closer and kissed her. Once he pulled away he smiled again. "Yes, Ma'am."

Rossi came sliding to a stop and about fell over in relief when he saw his favorite couple in each other's arms. "Oh thank God!" he exclaimed.

Hotch and Kahlan turned to him and Hotch nodded to him and Kahlan smiled. "It's over," she told him and pulled Hotch back into another hug. She wasn't ready to let him go just yet.

The whole team relaxed and Morgan ran a hand over his head. "Way to scare the shit out of someone, Man!"

Hotch shook his head. "I didn't do that!" he insisted as he pointed to the stage.

"Daddy!" Joey yelled as soon as she got around the corner of the doors and ran and launched herself at him. Kahlan pulled back just in time as Joey landed in Hotch's arms and wrapped her little arms around his neck and hugged him as tightly as she could.

JJ came running in behind her as she panted. "She took off when she heard the explosion. I tried to stop her," she told them and Hotch held up his hand to stop her as he held his daughter to him.

"I am so sorry, Angel," he started as his eyes watered. "I should have never have told you to do that!" he continued as tears trailed down his cheeks.

Joey pulled back and looked him in the eyes. "I'm ok, Daddy!" she assured him as she reached up and wiped his tears away.

He pulled her back to him and cried even harder. "I almost got you killed!"

Kahlan wrapped her arm around him. "She's fine, Aaron."

He sucked in air and finally pulled back and wrapped his arm around Kahlan and pulled both of his girls to him, but he looked up as a loud creaking noise started through the ceiling above them. He looked at Kahlan. "I think we should get out of here."

She quickly nodded. "Everyone out!" she screamed as Hotch took Joey towards the door. Kahlan stayed in the aisle and made sure everyone was out and then followed them. Chuck tried to shut the doors, but the explosion had shifted them too much to actually close. Hotch took a deep breath and looked at Rossi, and he opened his mouth to say something but they all ducked and cringed as the theater's ceiling collapsed and dust gushed out of the doors and filled the hallway around them.

They all started coughing and choking as they made their way to the first set of outside doors. Colson and emergency personal ran up to them and started checking them over as they all dusted themselves off. Hotch put Joey down and gave her a once over and she giggled. His brows furrowed. "What?"

She smiled. "I never liked that theater!" And everyone laughed as Hotch shook his head.

XXX

"Dave!" Kahlan yelled from the back of an ambulance.

He cringed and then made his way over to it. Both adult Hotchners were there, and he could just imagine what she wanted him for.

"Tell him I don't have to get stitches for this scratch!" she demanded as soon as he was close enough.

"It's not just a scratch!" Hotch insisted as his look pleaded with Rossi to side with him.

Rossi looked to the EMT standing there with them and the poor man looked like he wanted to hide from them both. Rossi took a deep breath and examined the cut on Kahlan's shoulder that had been cleaned. It was still bleeding a little, but it didn't look too terribly bad. "Does the medic think she needs stitches?" he asked Hotch.

Hotch's eyes narrowed, that was not the help he wanted. "He said it could. . ."

"But it would be alright if it didn't get them," Kahlan finished.

Rossi shook his head at them both. _They really are made for each other because their too damn much alike not to be! _ He took a deep breath and looked Hotch over. The medic had also cleaned Hotch's wounds and Rossi cringed as he took in the gash on Hotch's head that was surrounded by a nasty bruise. "Does that need stitches?" he asked as he pointed to it.

Hotch held his chin up. "No."

Kahlan huffed. "He said it might. He even suggested that a doctor should look at it!"

Rossi sighed. "Lord, grant me the strength. . ."

Kahlan and Hotch shared a little grin.

"Well, the only way to solve this is either you both go or you both leave each other alone about it."

The EMT's smile thanked Rossi for the help, but Hotch huffed. "That's not fair! You know she doesn't care about going!"

Rossi smiled as he put a hand on Hotch's cheek as he leaned down and locked eyes with him. "Figure it out, Aaron. It's easier if you let the women win."

Kahlan giggled as she stood up and turned towards the ambulance. "After you," she gestured.

Hotch stood up as he fixed her and Rossi with his stare. "Easier, huh? Let them win, huh?"

Rossi laughed and pushed him. "Get your ass in there. We'll get things wrapped up here, and I'll see you both at your house later."

Hotch growled as he stepped up into the ambulance and sat down on the side bench in a pout.

Kahlan smiled as she leaned over and kissed Rossi's cheek. "Thanks, Dave."

Before she got in, though, Colson ran up. "Agent Hotchner!" he yelled to stop her.

"Yes?" Kahlan and Hotch asked at the same time. Kahlan's head snapped to Hotch and he frowned at her. He was the Agent Hotchner of the family; she was always agent something else when it was necessary.

Colson looked back and forth between the two and then settled on Kahlan. "Ma'am, I'm sorry to stop you, but I wanted to let you know that all of the children and their families have been taken care of and they all wanted to thank you but I told them you were busy," he started.

She smiled and nodded and then turned to Hotch who had climbed back out of the ambulance. "Aaron, this is Agent Colson of the Secret Service. He's the man who saved Joey." Hotch's brows rose as he stuck his hand out. "Agent Colson, this is my husband, Aaron Hotchner and Unit Chief if the FBI's BAU."

Colson shook Hotch's hand as he looked back and forth between the two and it finally hit him why Kahlan had been so worried about the man in the gym.

"Thank you!" Hotch told him. "I don't know what I'd do if something had happened to her," he admitted honestly.

Colson smiled. "No need to thank me. I'm just glad I had a way to make up for almost ruining this whole thing before it even started and making the biggest mistake of my career."

Hotch's brows furrowed as he studied him. "Meaning?"

Kahlan cleared her throat and pat Hotch's side. "You need to get checked out, Hun," she told him and then looked at Colson.

Colson smiled. "Just make sure you cherish that little one as long as you can."

Kahlan and Hotch both looked at him with concern and he smiled. "My little one just turned fifteen three months ago and she's already begging me to teach her how to drive." He took a deep breath and ran a hand down his face. "There's not much that scares me, but the thought of my baby girl behind the wheel frightens the living daylights out of me," he finished as he shuddered.

Kahlan giggled. "Just take her to one of the driving courses I know you all have. Nice and safe, and no one can get hurt." Hotch head snapped to her and he instantly knew that she had taken their children to one already. _Damn it, Babe! What else are you teaching them?_

Colson's brows rose as he considered at and then smiled. "That's an excellent idea!"

Kahlan laughed. "Are you going to stay and help wrap things up?"

He nodded. "Yes, Ma'am."

She smiled. "Thank you, for everything."

He nodded and then walked away and she shoved Hotch towards the ambulance. "Come on."

He planted his feet, though, and fixed her with his stare. "What did he mean about a mistake?"

She giggled. "I tell you later."


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

It was late by the time Rossi made it to the Hotchner house so he let himself in with his key and Cindi greeted him with a kiss as soon as he stepped in. He looked around; he thought it was much too quiet. "Where is everyone?"

Cindi smiled. "The big kids went up to shower and change and haven't come back down. The actual kids are down in the rec room."

Rossi looked towards the stairs. "Are you sure they're alright?"

She shrugged. "I haven't heard anything. Go check on them," she told him as she gestured to the stairs. "I'll fix you some coffee."

Rossi took a deep breath and headed up the stairs. He stopped in front of the closed bedroom door and then shook his head. _They wouldn't. . ._ He opened the door as quietly as possible and then smiled as he took in the scene in the room. Hotch's back was leaning up against the headboard, Kahlan was leaning up against him, and they were both sound asleep. With the way they were laying, it was obvious that they hadn't planned on going to sleep, but Rossi figured that finally being able to relax completely let sleep overtake them.

Rossi shook his head. _They won't be able to move tomorrow if they sleep like that all night._ He went up to the end of the bed and pulled on the covers. As he pulled, Hotch and Kahlan moved with it and eventually they were both lying on the bed the right way. Hotch stirred a little as he moaned with the intrusion, but Rossi went up and stroked his hair back from his forehead. "Shhhh, go back to sleep, Aaron. It's ok," he whispered.

Hotch somewhat nodded and pulled Kahlan tighter to him and she settled into him, and Rossi smiled at them again as he grabbed a blanket off the chair and threw it over them and left them to sleep in peace.

Cindi shook her head at him as he joined her at the island. "You look like you need to go to bed, too."

He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her. "At least I don't look like them. They both look like they've been through hell, again."

She chuckled. "Yeah, you should have heard the boys chewing them out."

He laughed and took a drink of his coffee and then stifled a yawn. She pushed herself back and pulled on his shoulder. "Your bag in is the guestroom. Go take a shower and go to bed. I'll join you after I get the kids in bed, and then I'll fix everyone breakfast in the morning."

He smiled as he nodded and pulled her into a kiss. "I love you."

She giggled and pushed him away. "Of course you do, but I love you, too."

XXX

Hotch groaned as he woke up and looked around. He didn't even remember going to bed. His stomach growled loudly and he chuckled. _Well, in all fairness, I haven't eaten for. . . Shit, has it been a whole day?_ He got up and went to the restroom. He moaned as he handed himself and had to remind himself that he had been hit in the worst place possible. He cringed as he checked himself out but he wasn't surprised by the purple and black bruise that was his left nut. He shook his head, washed his hands and face, and then went in search of the bacon he could smell cooking.

He frowned when he found Cindi and Rossi cooking breakfast. Cindi handed him a mug full of coffee. "Thank you," he told her and then he looked around. "Where's Kahlan?"

Rossi turned from the pancakes he was making. "She had to go meet with Clapper. She'll be back soon."

Hotch took a drink and then studied him. "And why would she have to meet with Director Clapper so early?"

Rossi shrugged. "Didn't say, but I would guess it's about the school." Rossi turned and studied him. "You do know she was the lead on that, right?"

Hotch almost choked on his coffee. "What?"

Rossi's brows rose in surprise. "She didn't tell you?"

Hotch wiped his mouth off and shook his head. "No. God, by the time we got here and took a shower, hell, I don't even remember going to bed. We didn't have a whole of time to talk."

Rossi pursed his lips as he went back to his pancakes. _And she probably wasn't going to tell you anyway._

"How did that happen?" Hotch asked as he moved closer to him.

Rossi smiled. "I guess you need to ask her that."

Hotch's eyes narrowed in suspicion and he huffed and then reached around Rossi and stole a piece of bacon from the plate by the stove. Rossi smacked his hand with the spatula. "Get out of that! You can wait like the rest of us!"

Hotch stuffed the piece of bacon in his mouth and smiled as he walked towards the table, and Rossi shook his head as Cindi laughed at them.

XXX

Kahlan didn't get back home until after everyone was done eating and Rossi and Cindi were getting ready to leave. She hugged and kissed them both and then thanked them for everything they had done. Rossi gave her a grin as he walked towards the door. "I made him eat this morning," he told her as he motioned towards Hotch.

Hotch huffed. "Like anyone had to do anything. I was starving."

Kahlan giggled. "I guess so. I was going to make you eat something last night, but apparently we were both too tired for anything."

Rossi fixed her with a look. "Have you eaten this morning? I know you didn't eat during that whole thing."

She ducked her head a little.

"Kahlan Lavonne Hotchner!" Cindi yelled at her. "I ought to beat your ass!"

Hotch gave her a cocky look like he thought it was funny that she was the one getting in trouble for a change.

"And you just watch yourself, Young Man. She's picked up that shit from you!" Cindi quickly told him and he ducked his head and scooted a little closer to his wife.

Rossi laughed. "Come on, Sweetheart. They'll take care of each other, I'm sure," Rossi told Cindi as he put his hand in her arm.

Cindi fixed both Hotchners with a serious look. "Don't make me come back over here!"

"Yes, Ma'am," they both said at the same time, and Cindi smirked and followed Rossi out of the house.

Hotch shut the door behind them and chuckled. "I think her beating your ass would be a sight to see."

"Shut up, Aaron!" Kahlan told him as she went towards the kitchen.

He laughed and followed her and found her fixing a cup of coffee. He licked his lips. "So Dave tells me things were pretty interesting on the outside of the school."

She huffed as she went to the island and sat down. "Probably not as interesting as they were on the inside."

He studied her and knew she wasn't going to tell him anything without him actually coming out and asking her. He took a deep breath. "So how was it being in charge of so many people?"

She tensed ever so slightly and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. She licked her lips and then took a drink. She took a deep breath and turned to him. "You want the truth?"

He shifted in his seat to look at her more directly and nodded. "Yes," he drew out wondering where she was going with that.

"It sucked!" she started and then shoved her coffee back in disgust. She shook her head. "Give me my squad and a target any day!"

His brows furrowed and he reached out and took her hand. "What do you mean?"

She huffed. "I don't know how you do it!" she pushed herself away from the island and started pacing. "The few times I have dealt with a hostage situation. . ." She took a deep breath. "We went in, killed the bad guys, and viola, hostages safe! But. . . a situation like that school. . . with you and Joey. . ." She shook her head again. "I didn't know what the hell I was doing! I just kept asking myself, 'How would Aaron handle this?'" She shook her head again. "And I know I screwed up a few times." She finally turned and looked at him. "If it wouldn't have been for Dave and your team. . ." She sighed. "I don't know what I would have done." She looked at the ground. "I definitely bit off more than I could chew, and I almost got both of you killed," she finished and her voice got weaker and lower and he knew she had teared up.

He got and pulled her to him. "You were amazing, Babe! You handle it like a pro; just ask anyone who was there!" He pulled back and lifted her chin and made her look at him. "And you did not almost get us killed. They almost killed us; big difference!" She opened her mouth to argue and he put a finger over her lips. "There were over a hundred people, half of whom were kids, that were being held hostage and you ended it without one casualty! Do you know how unbelievable that is? The odds of that many hostages making it out unscathed is. . . well I don't know but I'm sure Reid could tell us if you really need to know."

She chuckled. "But I really didn't do anything. It was the team, Colson, you! If it wasn't for you and that watch. . ."

He shook his head. "You used what you had available and got the best possible results. You should be proud of yourself." He ducked down a little to get her to look at him again. "Like I'm proud of you."

She smiled and wrapped her arms around him. "That's all I was trying to do. . . make you proud of me."

He leaned back and locked eyes with her. "I'm proud of you every day of my life, Kahlan Lavonne Hotchner! You are an amazing woman, and don't you forget it! And I am proud to call you my wife!"

Her cheeks turned pink and she shook her head. "Not as much as I am for you being my husband!"

He chuckled. "And besides, you only killed one bad guy. That's a new record!"

She hit him in the gut. "And that was your fault!"

"Owww!" He rubbed the spot. "How was that my fault?"

Her eyes got wide. "How was it not? You shot the guy with the scar and then the other guy turned his gun on you; what was I supposed to do, let him shoot you?"

He crossed his arms. "I only did that because Scar was going to shoot you!"

She huffed. "Not a chance! They didn't even know where I was!"

His brows rose. "Oh, so now you can outrun bullets from an automatic rifle?"

Her face scrunched up in anger and she opened her mouth to argue another point, but Joey spoke up first. "Do I need to call Grandma and Poppi back?"

They both ducked their heads in shame because neither of them knew Joey had come back inside. She giggled and then went to them and hugged both of their legs. "You two make a great team, and that's all that matters!"

Hotch reached down and picked her up and Kahlan wrapped her arm around them as she smiled. "That's right!"


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

About a week after the school incident, Hotch and the team were home and had the next day off, so the Hotchners threw a cook out and invited the team, Chuck, and their other halves over. Before it was time to start the grill, the kids played games and the adults sat around drinking beer and enjoying each other's company.

Hotch went in to get the steaks and Chuck jumped up to help him. Once they were inside, Hotch leaned in close to him. "Has Kahlan ever had to kill a child?"

Chuck's eyes went wide. "What?!"

Hotch bit his lip. "In the theater, with the unsubs, she told them that she understood when a child might have to be killed but that Joey didn't fit that category. The way she said it. . . I don't know. I seemed like maybe she had to face something like that before."

Chuck ran a hand down his face and checked the room around them. "You read her medical records, right?" Hotch frowned but nodded. "She should have." He took a deep breath and shook his head. "There was this young boy over in Afghanistan. . ." He blew out a breath as he shuddered and Hotch knew the memory was a bad one. "He had this vest on. It was obvious it was a bomb." He took another deep breath. "He came running at the whole company we were there to help." He shook his head. "Kay was the closest; she could have taken him out without even thinking about it, but she raised her gun and froze." He chewed on his lower lip. "She'd never froze before, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't shoot him."

Hotch studied him. _Jesus Christ!_

"Once I realized she wasn't going to do it, I raised my gun, but he was so close. . . I shot him, but the vest must have been a flack vest. Even though he went down. . . He still set the bomb off and the blast almost killed her."

"My God. So because she couldn't bring herself to kill a child, even though she was only protecting herself and her team, she almost died?"

Chuck nodded. "Yeah. Everyone was shocked." He swallowed. "Everyone always thought she had steel nerves. You know, the stone cold killer, but she wasn't. . . not really." He looked Hotch in the eyes. "I mean she can be, there's no doubting that, but she can't just kill anyone. There has to be a reason." He shook his head again. "And sometimes the reason isn't even enough." He sighed. "I'd imagine it'd be even worse now that she has her own kids."

Hotch nodded his agreement and then pat him on the back. "Thanks for telling me. I didn't feel right asking her about it, but I wondered."

Chuck shrugged. "You've been around long enough. I don't have any problems telling you anything, Hotch. You're like a brother to me, you know that."

Hotch smiled and wrapped his arm around the back of his neck. "Yeah, and the feeling's mutual, ya meathead," he told him as he rubbed his knuckles around on his head effectively giving him a nuggie.

Chuck laughed and wiggled out of his grasp and shoved him away. "You're lucky I like you! I've killed people for doing less!"

Hotch's eyes widened and he wasn't sure if Chuck was being serious or not, and Chuck's evil grin would have made Kahlan proud.

They both turned toward the back door when it opened and Kahlan came in. She stopped and studied them. "Taking you guys long enough?"

Hotch tried to look innocent. "What?"

Chuck laughed and headed back out the door, and Kahlan frowned as she looked at her husband. "What were you two doing?"

Hotch smirked. "I think he threatened to kill me, but I'm not sure."

Kahlan's eyes snapped opened. "What? I'll kick his ass!" she exclaimed as she turned but Hotch grabbed her arm and pulled her to him.

"I'm joking! We were just messing around," he assured her and then leaned down and kissed her.

She leaned in closer to him and deepened the kiss as she moaned into his mouth.

He pulled back and pushed her away a little. "Whoa! Stop that; we have guests."

She giggled. "They wouldn't miss us for ten minutes."

He took a deep breath and adjusted himself. "Ten minutes would be a tease."

She giggled again and then went to the fridge and grabbed several more beers. "Then get the damn stakes on. The quicker they eat, the quicker they'll leave."

He chuckled. "Yes, Ma'am!"

XXX

"So exactly how many languages does Joey know?" JJ asked Kahlan as they ate.

Kahlan almost choked on her beer, but she recovered and smiled. "She's on her fifth."

Rossi shot a look to Hotch and he could tell Hotch was just as shocked as everyone else at the table, well, except Cam and Chuck.

Kahlan shrugged. "The younger they are the easier it is for them to learn," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, Cass is already starting on Spanish," Chuck told them all proudly. "She already knows her colors and numbers."

"She loves Dora," Vinnie put in and they all laughed.

Mina looked towards the kids' table and then back to Kahlan. "Do the boys know any?"

Kahlan smiled again. "Jack's working on his third but poor Wyatt, he doesn't have a knack for it. He only knows one and he's struggling with that. I told him he didn't have to, but he insisted he wanted to master at least one."

"So do they talk to each other in them so you all don't know what they're talking about?" Mack asked her.

She shook her head. "None of them know the same one."

"That way together they'll know most of the important ones. They're going to make a great team," Sam pointed out and Cam chocked on his bite of potato salad.

Hotch shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Kahlan reached over and rubbed his thigh as she looked at Sam. "Knowing more than one language will be beneficial no matter what career choice they make."

Sam's eyes cut to Hotch and he blushed. "Of course! I didn't mean. . ."

"Just stop, Sammy, before you dig yourself in even farther," Mack told him as she leaned over and put arm around his shoulders. He nodded and quickly stuffed a forkful of stake into his mouth, and Chuck and Cam laughed as they shared a knowing look with Kahlan.

"Your children are already more equipped to better handle things than most teams," Reid pointed out.

"And they can drive, too," Hotch put in and his eyes cut to his wife.

"Joey can't. She can't reach the pedals and see over the wheel at the same time, but she's awesome on the simulator," Kahlan pointed out, and most of them looked at her and then smiled or laughed clearly not believing her or Hotch.

Hotch licked his lips and then hid behind his beer. _And God knows what else they know._

XXX

Once everyone left and the kids were in bed, Hotch scooped Kahlan up after she shut the dishwasher and took her to the bedroom as she giggled. They spent the next few hours enjoying their private time and then settled into each other and ended up sleeping in.

Hotch's nostrils flared as aromas pulled him from sleep. He shifted and then his eyes flew open when he came awake enough to realize Kahlan was still in bed with him. _Who the hell is cooking?_ He sat up and his sudden movement made Kahlan sit up, too. "What?" she asked desperately.

"Do you smell bacon?" he asked as he got up.

She tested the air. "Jack's making breakfast," she figured as she got up and headed toward the bathroom.

"The kids are cooking while we're in bed? That doesn't bother you?" he asked as he pulled on his sweats and a t-shirt.

She laughed. "Calm down. They do it all the time, Hun."

He huffed and went out the door to make sure they were alright. _They're too young to cook on their own!_ He sped up as he imagined burns, and fires, and messes, and a million other horrors.

He was surprised when he got to the kitchen, though. Wyatt was frying bacon, Jack was making omelets, and Joey was setting the table and everything was clean and everyone was fine. He sighed heavily. _They're growing up too damn fast!_

"Morning, Daddy!" Joey greeted him as she pulled him into a hug.

"Morning, Angel, Guys. You sure have been busy."

Jack gave him a grin. "We were almost ready to wake you guys up."

Hotch moved in closer and smiled as Wyatt left his bacon to fix him a cup of coffee. When Wyatt tried to hand him the mug, though, Hotch was busy stealing a piece of bacon. "Hey! It's not even done yet," Wyatt told him as he tried to shove his way in front of Hotch.

Hotch chewed as he quirked his brows and then licked his fingertips. "It's done enough."

"Get out of there and let them be!" Kahlan demanded as she stood in the doorway.

"Morning, Mom," Jack told her as he moved and gave her a hug.

"Morning, Buddy. Breakfast smells amazing, Guys."

All of the kids grinned and Joey moved in behind her father and pushed him towards the table. "Get out! We'll call you when it's done."

"Ok, ok," Hotch told her as he let her move him, but he grabbed his coffee before it was too far out of reach.

XXX

After breakfast, the Hotchner's spent most the day playing at the park. Hotch took a break from playing Frisbee with Joey to get a drink and he couldn't help but smile as he watched his family. _This is what makes it all worth it. _

After an exhausting day, Kahlan and Hotch fixed dinner and they all sat down eagerly after working up a healthy appetite playing all day.

Hotch looked at his family around the table with him and smiled. Even with everything that happened at the school, everything was back to normal: Wyatt was stuffing his face, Jack was trying to hide his phone under the table as he text Sarah, and Joey was making smiley faces with her peas. He chuckled. "Didn't your mother ever teach you it's not polite to play with your food?"

Kahlan huffed. "She tries, and you'd think after forty some years she'd give up."

Hotch busted out laughing and Kahlan finally looked up from her plate to him and frowned as she wondered why he thought that was so funny. He shook his head at her. "I was talking to Joey."

"Oh," she drew out as the kids laughed and her cheeks heated, but she sat up and gave her daughter a sly grin. "If that's the case, then, 'no'. Why would I want to take the fun out of eating?"

He shook his head at her again and then reached over and mussed Joey's hair. "Like mother like daughter."

Joey smiled proudly. "Yep!" she exclaimed as she shifted her plate so Kahlan could see the new evil face she'd made.

Kahlan laughed and then turned her plate. "Tell me that doesn't look like a Rhino?" she asked as she pointed to her mound of mashed potatoes.

Hotch lost it again and almost spit out his drink of sweet tea.

"It does!" Joey insisted as she laughed.

Hotch looked at it and had to admit, it did look like a rhinoceros. He pointed to the other side of the gravy. "And that looks like a turtle on its back."

Kahlan brows furrowed as she spun her plate to get a good look at the other side and then smiled at him. "It does!"

Jack shook his head at them. "You guys are crazy!"

Kahlan and Joey beamed as they took that as a compliment and Hotch cuffed him the back of the head. "Hey! That's my girls you're talking about!"

Jack laughed, and Wyatt shook his head. "This whole family is crazy, but that's just the way I like it!"

Hotch smiled and looked at his family again. _My thoughts exactly!_

**The End**

Thanks to everyone for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. The next one is in the works, so keep an eye open.


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